Abstract

Collagen is the major protein of the extracellular matrix and plays a central role in the formation of fibrillar and microfibrillar networks, basement membranes, as well as other structures of the connective tissue. As a fundamental brick of the architecture of tissues, it guarantees organs functioning and is crucial in the adaptative response to various tissue injuries. This protein is characterized by triple helical domains and possesses remarkable non linear optical properties. Indeed, collagen fibers exhibit efficient Second Harmonic Generation (SHG) in tissues and SHG microscopy has proved to be a valuable technique to probe the three-dimensional architecture of fibrillar collagen in native and biomimetic tissues and to assess the progression of fibrotic pathologies [1,2].

© 2009 IEEE