The Influence of Multiscale Collagen Mechanics on Skin Wrinkling

The Influence of Multiscale Collagen Mechanics on Skin Wrinkling | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article The Influence of Multiscale Collagen Mechanics on Skin Wrinkling Naga Neehar Dingari, Mohd Suhail Rizvi, Sovan Lal Das, Paramveer Sharma, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-3812637/v3 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 3 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Show more versions Abstract Collagen is a key structural component of many biological tissues including human skin. Dermis layer of skin, which consists of a crosslinked network of collagen and elastin fibers, gives skin the mechanical integrity. Collagen fibers are made up of structural components namely, fibrils and tropocollagen molecules, at lower length-scales. The properties of these components determine the mechanical properties of collagen fibers, and that of the entire skin. Any alteration to the properties of the microscopic constituents can have a huge effect on the overall physiological response of skin. Therefore a multiscale modelling framework can efficiently capture this complex mechanics of collagen fibers in human skin. In this work, we use multiscale mechanics and finite element modelling to characterize the influence of collagen mechanics on the macroscopic response of human skin. Using this framework we investigate the influence of various collagen properties on the wrinkling behavior of human skin. Using FEM simulations, we show that collagen properties such as fiber orientation, dispersion and aspect ratio have a significant influence on the macroscopic wrinkle size. Our results on the influence of collagen dispersion on the wrinkle height correlate with the experimentally reported trends on ageing-induced skin wrinkling. To the best of authors’ knowledge, this is the first 3D multiscale FEM model that considers the influence of collagen anisotropy on skin wrinkling. This study can be very useful in developing pharma and cosmetic products for skin-care and anti-aging applications. Biomaterials Mechanical Engineering skin biomechanics collagen multiscale Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 3 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Show more versions Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-3812637","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":269925975,"identity":"b7835fea-8c5a-4d8b-b15b-90512416fb28","order_by":0,"name":"Naga Neehar Dingari","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAuklEQVRIiWNgGAWjYHACgwMgko29gWQtPIdJ0AKhJJKJVG/OwLzxcMEvu3w+yfcHP/5gsJPTJeRAywa2gsMz+5It26STmaV5GJKNzQ4QctUBHoPDvD3MBmzSyWzMDAwHErcRqaXegE3yMBvjD6K18Pw4bMAmwczGwEOUlsNAv/A2HDdg40k2luYxIMYvx5s3f+b5U20g337w4ccfFXZyBLUwAL3MwNgGN4GQcjj4Q7TKUTAKRsEoGIkAADqSOeh0zaGXAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"Tata Consultancy Services (India)","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Naga","middleName":"Neehar","lastName":"Dingari","suffix":""},{"id":269925977,"identity":"0f158ede-71ad-482b-8025-50e87240e7c3","order_by":1,"name":"Mohd Suhail Rizvi","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Mohd","middleName":"Suhail","lastName":"Rizvi","suffix":""},{"id":269925978,"identity":"e6802430-0405-467d-a138-998303db735b","order_by":2,"name":"Sovan Lal Das","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Indian Institute of Technology Palakkad","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Sovan","middleName":"Lal","lastName":"Das","suffix":""},{"id":269925976,"identity":"208284b3-cf0e-4ae6-a3ae-f30a58a0ed14","order_by":3,"name":"Paramveer Sharma","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Tata Consultancy Services (India)","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Paramveer","middleName":"","lastName":"Sharma","suffix":""},{"id":269925979,"identity":"9c2e5956-ff70-498b-8fca-3a871083c5ce","order_by":4,"name":"Beena Rai","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Tata Consultancy Services (India)","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Beena","middleName":"","lastName":"Rai","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2023-12-27 14:29:08","currentVersionCode":3,"declarations":{"humanSubjects":false,"vertebrateSubjects":false,"conflictsOfInterestStatement":false,"humanSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false,"humanSubjectConsent":false,"humanSubjectClinicalTrial":false,"humanSubjectCaseReport":false,"vertebrateSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false},"doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-3812637/v3","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3812637/v3","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":81773712,"identity":"cc53d653-92c2-4b2f-abf4-5ed7e9913bda","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-05-01 15:16:15","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1646508,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Collagenfibermechanicsmodelmanuscriptv4.5withsupportinginfo.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3812637/v3_covered_4dd6dce0-d4b3-4f60-bbb7-0170ddfb4ca0.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"The authors declare no competing interests.","formattedTitle":"\u003cp\u003eThe Influence of Multiscale Collagen Mechanics on Skin Wrinkling\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"skin, biomechanics, collagen, multiscale","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-3812637/v3","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3812637/v3","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eCollagen is a key structural component of many biological tissues including human skin. 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