Bundles of Dermis, Tendon, and Bone: Bridging between Nano- and Micro-Level Tissue Hierarchy

oncartilaginous connective tissues, including dermis, tendon, and bone, are predominantly composed of type I fibrillar collagen in the organic phase of their extracellular matrix (ECM). As the main ECM building block, collagen fibrils play pivotal roles inmaintaining tissue integrity, providing the basis for mechanical properties and influencing cell activities. Collagen fibrils have an exceptionally long half-life in vivo, which is estimated to be 1595 years.1,2 They are resistant to com-mon proteases since the tightly packed fibrillar structure prevents access to cleav-age sites.3 Collagen fibrils are mechanicall