SCIENCE
If someone ends up in hospital with torn tendons and ligaments, it could be genetic. A scientist from Salzburg discovered this and published it in the international journal “Science Translational Medicine” (STM). This is published in Washington DC (USA).
25.02.2021 07.00
Online since today, 7 a.m.
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Tendons transmit great forces between muscles and bones – a human Achilles tendon could pull a small car. Without the protein “Sparc” they are poorly developed in mice and tear easily after exposure, reports the Salzburg researcher Andreas Traweger in his scientific report for the specialist magazine STM. In humans, a defective Sparc gene variant leads to more often ending up in hospital with torn tendons and ligaments.
Mice and humans tested
Sparc is normally produced by the tendon cells and secreted outside into the “extracellular matrix”, explains Traweger, who works at the Institute for Tendon and Bone Regeneration at the Paracelsus Medical University in Salzburg. This “extracellular matrix” has many protein fibers (collagens) and thus gives the tendons their strength.
Together with international colleagues, the researcher examined the Achilles tendons of mice without “Sparc”. They were less developed than in normal mice, withstanding less tensile force at the bone attachment and more often tore after walking on the treadmill, he reports.
Weakness from lack of protein
“In our study we were able to show that the extracellular matrix is weaker when this protein is missing,” says Traweger: “As a result, the embedded cells perceive loads such as stretching to a greater extent”. As a result, you feel overstrained, which causes tendons to deteriorate: the matrix and protein fibers are broken down and inflammation occurs.
The researchers found that people with torn tendons and ligaments often have a certain mutation in the Sparc gene, the template for the Sparc protein. It means that the protein cannot be easily released into the extracellular matrix.
Examine athletes on a broad basis
The findings on the Sparc gene and Sparc protein are clinically relevant in two respects, explained the expert: “On the one hand, athletes could be screened to see whether they are carriers of this newly discovered mutation, and are thus exposed to an increased risk of a tendon rupture.” He is currently working with colleagues in an animal model to find out whether the administration of Sparc protein can promote the healing of tendons.
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