Abstract
The poultry industry has placed significant emphasis on the selection of meat-type broilers for increased body weight, increased meat yield especially the pectoralis major (breast) muscle, decreased time to processing, and improved feed conversion. Although significant improvements have occurred in fast-growing meat-type broilers, myopathies affecting meat quality especially in the pectoralis major muscle have occurred. Many of the broiler breast muscle myopathies are caused by inflammation leading to the necrosis of existing muscle fibers and resulting in replacement of the muscle fibers with extracellular matrix proteins especially fibrillar collagens, fibrosis. This review explores how the fibrotic deposition and organization of extracellular matrix proteins especially the fibrillar collagens, Types I and III, affects the phenotype of the Wooden Breast myopathy, functional properties of the pectoralis major muscle, and meat quality.
Introduction
Broilers have been selected for increased growth, carcass weight, pectoralis major (breast) muscle yield, decreased time to reach processing weight, and improved feed conversion (, , ; ). Despite the overall growth improvements and increased feed efficiency, the presence of novel necrotic/fibrotic myopathies has been identified. These myopathies negatively impact breast meat quality and affect the well-being and overall function of the pectoralis major muscle. Typical named necrotic/fibrotic myopathies include, but are not limited to, Wooden Breast (WB: ), White Stripping (WS: ), and Spaghetti Meat (SM: , ). All three of these myopathies affect the visual appearance of the pectoralis major muscle with increased collagen deposition, and altered fat and protein levels. Wooden Breast and SM have the most detrimental effects on breast meat quality with WB affected meat being hard whereas SM meat is soft after cooking. In modern heavy weight fast-growing broilers, the pectoralis major muscle is eight times larger than broilers marketed in 1955 (). Selection favoring greater pectoralis major muscle growth is due to consumer preference for a low-fat protein choice that is reasonable in cost. The increase in muscle mass is correlated with larger myofiber diameters from hypertrophic growth (), and a decrease in connective tissue spacing between muscle fiber bundles (perimysium) and individual myofibers (endomysium) (; ). The presence of ample connective tissue spacing is necessary for structure and function of the muscle and vascularization. Since the pectoralis major is an anaerobic muscle, the removal of lactic acid the by-product of anaerobic respiration requires vascular supply.
The fibrotic process of the replacement of muscle fibers with connective tissue is induced by chronic muscle fiber damage, necrosis, with associated tissue inflammation. In normal muscle, the damage will be repaired without changes in the myofiber structure or fibrosis. However, fibrosis results in muscles with chronic necrosis leading to the excessive deposition of fibrillar collagen as is observed with myopathies like WB. It is not the concentration of fibrillar collagen synthesized during fibrosis, but the organization of the fibrillar collagen will determine the tissue flexibility and the tenderness of the meat. In recent studies, it has been shown that there may be multiple necrotic/fibrotic myopathies associated with the broiler pectoralis major muscle (, ; ; ; ). Many of these myopathies, largely go phenotypically undetected by palpation due to differences in the organization of fibrillar collagens. This review focuses on the organization of fibrotic fibrillar collagen deposited in the extracellular connective tissue spaces in the broiler pectoralis major muscle in 3 heavy weight fast-growing commercial broiler with differing incidence of phenotypically detectable WB.
What Is the Extracellular Matrix and Why It Is a Key Element Determining Muscle Function and Meat Quality
The extracellular matrix is defined as all the secreted molecules extrinsic to the cell composed of collagens, proteoglycans, and non-collagenous glycoproteins. The composition and structure of the extracellular matrix is not random as it is tissue-type and age specific. The matrix is thus dynamically expressed and directly impacts muscle cell proliferation, adhesion, migration, and the repair of damaged muscle fibers. In skeletal muscle there are three layers of connective tissue containing extracellular matrix macromolecules. They are the endomysium, perimysium, and epimysium. The epimysium forms a sheath around the entire muscle, the perimysium encompasses muscle fiber bundles, and the endomysium surrounds individual muscle fibers. The predominant extracellular matrix proteins in these layers are the fibrillar collagens especially Types I and III.
The fibrillar collagens are characterized by a single triple-helical domain containing three peptide chains forming an alpha helix. After the triple helical structure is formed, the collagen is secreted into the extracellular matrix space where it is aligned into a quarter stagger array leading to the formation of collagen fibrils that are stabilized by crosslinking between the collagens. Crosslinking of the fibrillar collagens is necessary for both its structural stability and functional properties and is a major determinant of meat textural properties. The covalent hydroxylsylpyridinoline (HP) crosslink is a mature, non-reducible, trivalent crosslink that forms from the condensation of two divalent ketoimine crosslinks (). The formation of HP crosslinks is progressive with age and the toughening of meat is directly attributable to crosslink concentration. With tissue injury, the repair process results in collagen fibrils that have higher levels of HP crosslinking (). Since collagen HP crosslinking is progressive with age and increases with tissue injury, fibrotic myopathies will likely result in increased collagen deposition and crosslinking like what is observed in the WB myopathy. Despite the likely increase in collagen crosslinking in severely affected WB muscle, showed that hydroxylysylpyridinoline concentration, the principle non-reducible crosslink in fibrillar collagen is not affected in the Ross 308 strain. The muscle necrotic and fibrotic process is characterized by both changes in tissue structure and composition of the extracellular matrix. In fibrotic tissue, there is an excessive deposition of fibrillar collagen (; ). Thus, necrotic and fibrotic conditions in skeletal muscle will result in altered structural architecture and function with reduced elasticity. Furthermore, there is a general replacement of skeletal muscle fibers with connective tissue. Meat derived from pectoralis major muscles with necrotic and fibrotic disorders like WB will have reduced myofibrillar protein content, reduced water holding capacity, increased fat, and be tough and texturally unappealing ().
Overview of Skeletal Muscle Development and Regeneration
The predisposition to the development of degenerative breast muscle myopathies has its origins in the formation of muscle and its continued growth as well as how selection for fast-growing heavy weights lines has altered the development and growth of the pectoralis major muscle including the extracellular matrix environment. The development and growth of skeletal muscle is a precisely regulated process with specific phases. Embryonic myoblasts are derived from the somites and once they migrate to the areas of muscle formation will further proliferate, align to form multinucleated myotubes, and ultimately muscle fibers. After the myoblasts form multinucleated myotubes they withdraw from the cell cycle. During the formation of skeletal muscle, the muscle fibers will form bundles with the bundles being separated by perimysial connective tissue spacing and the individual muscle fibers by endomysial connective tissue. At the time of hatch, muscle fiber formation is complete ().
The continued posthatch growth is from the enlargement or hypertrophy of existing muscle fibers. Hypertrophy is solely dependent upon a mesodermally derived stem cells population of adult myoblasts, satellite cells. With myofiber injury, the satellite cells are responsible for the repair and regeneration of the myofiber back to its original state.
Having enough perimysial and endomysial connective tissue spacing is necessary for the livability of the avian pectoralis major muscle myofibers (). The perimysium is a connective layer composed of groups of collagen fibrils tightly packed that surround the entire muscle fiber bundle. In comparison, the endomysium contains a thin layer of collagen encompassing only individual myofibers. In addition to providing space between the muscle fiber bundles and myofibers, the intramuscular areas of connective tissue spacing provide structural support for the tissue, defines the elasticity or stretch of the muscle, and contains capillaries necessary for adult myoblast activity, satellite cells, and the removal of respiration by-products like lactic acid. Selection for increased breast muscling based on myofiber hypertrophy and not muscle fiber number through hyperplasia will result in myofibers and muscle fiber bundles that occupy the endomysial and perimysial spaces, respectively. As the connective spaces are diminished in size and the fibers and fiber bundles begin to touch, fiber degeneration ensues (; ). Once the muscle fibers are damaged, satellite cell-mediated repair mechanisms are invoked. When myofiber degeneration occurs the sarcolemma (myofiber plasma membrane) is disrupted which initiates necrosis from the influx of calcium from the sarcoplasmic reticulum. The necrosis of the muscle fibers leads to an immune response () with the infiltration of immune cells including neutrophils and macrophages to phagocytize the cellular debris. In necrotic/fibrotic disorders like WB the pectoralis major muscle tissue has observable lysis of existing muscle fibers with immune cell infiltration.
The degeneration or necrosis of the muscle fibers will initiate satellite cell repair mechanisms. Satellite cells are, in general, quiescent and must be activated to reenter the cell cycle to proliferate and differentiate. Satellite cells require the appropriate niche environment for activation. For satellite cell activity to occur, the muscle stem cell niche must contain vascularization within 21 μm of the satellite cells (). However, in meat-type broilers affected with WB the muscle is under oxidative stress (). One of the characterizing features of WB muscle is a reduction in circulatory supply. The reduction in circulatory supply in the pectoralis major muscle is further augmented by the pectoralis major muscle being an anaerobic muscle. Anaerobic glycolytic metabolism does not require oxygen. Thus, the pectoralis major muscle being a fast twitch Type II muscle does not require by nature an extensive circulatory network. Further reduction in circulatory supply in WB affected muscle will suppress satellite cell-mediated myofiber regeneration. Regeneration is a process of constructing parallel arrays of microfibrils. Alterations in the reconstruction of the myofibrillar structure will negatively impact the contractile properties of the muscle () and meat quality by reducing protein content. showed that the WB condition resulted in a deposition of smaller diameter myofibrils with a lack of normal sarcomere structure ranging from moderate to severe (Figure 1). In contrast, during normal posthatch muscle growth, myofiber diameter should continue to increase with age through satellite cell-mediated hypertrophic growth () while maintaining normal sarcomere structure in the myofibrils.
FIGURE 1
The degeneration of muscle fibers results in inflammation of the pectoralis major muscle tissue leading to an increased deposition of extracellular matrix proteins like collagen and proteoglycans. The extracellular matrix proteins form an architectural network outside the cell which determines, in part, the structural stability of the tissue, stretch, and water-holding capacity. Measures of extracellular matrix protein concentration alone will not determine the functional attributes of the tissue. For example, the primary phenotypic feature of WB is a hard pectoralis major muscle detected by palpation (
Formation and Organization of Intramuscular Collagen Fibrils: Relationship to the Phenotype of Wooden Breast
The process of fibrosis is a self-perpetuating response to muscle necrosis resulting in the progressive overproduction of fibrillar collagens Types I and III in the perimysial and endomysial connective tissue spaces. The phenotypic characteristics of necrotic/fibrotic myopathies is not a direct relationship to the concentration of these collagens. There are numerous factors determining the tissue phenotype resulting from fibrosis. These include, but are not limited to fibril diameter, degree of crosslinking, proteoglycan localization and type, fibril alignment, and morphometric organization of the collagen fibrils.
All collagens are composed of three polypeptide chains with the amino acid repeat Glycine-X-Y where X and Y are any amino acid but are frequently proline or lysine. The polypeptide chains will wrap around each other intracellularly to form a right-handed triple helix. At this point, the collagen molecule is exocytosed into the extracellular space where fibril and fiber formation take place. The collagen fiber is the functional form impacting tissue structure, elasticity, and ultimately meat quality. After secretion, the collagen molecules will align in parallel to forming a quarter staggered array which is a necessary step leading to the assembly of collagen fibrils. The collagen fibrils are stabilized by the formation of reversible divalent crosslinks. The alignment of the collagen molecules is not a random process and after alignment there are gap and overlap areas within the quarter staggered array. The length of one overlap zone is 67 nm and this is termed a D banding-period. If the alignment of the collagen molecules is altered, the length of the D-period will be modified affecting collagen fibril function. After collagen fibril formation, the collagen fibrils will come together forming collagen fibers. With maturation, divalent ketoimine crosslinks are replaced with trivalent non-reversible HP crosslinks. The HP crosslink is a critical factor in tissue stiffening. After three collagen triple helices are linked together, additional helices are linked together increasing collagen fibril diameter and crosslinking. The formation of HP crosslinks is a progressive process with age and is likely a major factor in the phenotypic detection of WB by palpation and the reduction in meat quality.
Since the WB myopathy is characterized by excessive collagen fibril deposition, it is of importance to understand the ultrastructural intramuscular organization of the fibrillar collagens in fast growing meat-type broiler lines of differing parental lineage. To comprehensively study collagen fibril structure, a series of studies was conducted examining collagen fibril structure in three fast growing commercial broiler lines with distinctly different levels of phenotypically detectable WB (
FIGURE 2

Masson trichrome staining of collagen organization in wooden breast (WB)-unaffected and -affected pectoralis major muscle. (A,C,E) are representative images of WB-unaffected pectoralis major muscle from Lines A, B, and C, respectively. (B,D) are representative images of WB-affected pectoralis major muscle from Lines A and B, respectively. The arrows highlight fibrillar collagen and the boxes contain enlargements of the fibrillar collagen. Scale bar = 100 μm. (Figure reproduced from
Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis was used to further investigate histological differences, measure collagen D-periodicity, and collagen fiber diameter in Lines A, B, and C affected and unaffected WB birds (
More importantly the TEM study by
Since the organization of collagen fibrils is altered by the fibrotic process, it is necessary to determine mechanistically how this organizational change occurs. A primary candidate for altering collagen fibrillar structure is the chondroitin and dermatan sulfate proteoglycan decorin. Decorin plays a critical role in the formation of the quarter stagger array aligning the collagen helices (
FIGURE 3

Decorin immunogold transmission electron microscopy images of collagen fibrils from wooden breast-affected muscle of Line A (A) and Line B (B). White arrowheads indicate gold particles labeling collagen fibrils. Insets show enlarged images of gold labeling individual collagen fibrils in the region indicated by the white box. Scale bar = 500 nm. (Figure reproduced from
To summarize this review provides novel insight into the fibrillar organization of collagen in the broiler pectoralis major muscle and its impact on the phenotypic detection of WB affected birds. Despite
Skeletal muscle contains fibrillar collagens Types I and III. The expression of collagen is age dependent. During early development, Type III collagen is the predominant collagen but with increased age there is a shift toward Type I collagen (
Statements
Author contributions
The author confirms being the sole contributor of this work and has approved it for publication.
Conflict of interest
The author declares that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
References
1
AbashtB.MutrynM. F.MichalekR. D.LeeW. R. (2016). Oxidative stress and metabolic perturbations in wooden breast disorder in chickens.PLoS One11:e0153750. 10.1371/journal.pone.0153750
2
AlexakisC.PartridgeT.Bou-GhariosG. (2007). Implication of the satellite cell in dystrophic muscle fibrosis: a self-perpetuating mechanism of collagen overproduction.Am. J. Physiol.293C661–C669. 10.1152/ajpcell.00061.2007
3
AsgariM.LatifiN.HerisH. K.ValiH.MongeauL. (2017). In vitro fibrillogenesis of tropocollagen type III in collagen type I affects its relative fibrillar topology and mechanics.Sci. Rep.7:1392. 10.1038/s41598-017-01476-y
4
BaileyA.BazinS.SimsT.Le LousM.NicoletisC.DelaunayA. (1975). Characterization of the collagen of human hypertrophic and normal scars.Biochim. Biophys. Acta405412–421. 10.1016/0005-2795(75)90106-3
5
BaldiG.SogliaF.LaghiL.TappiS.RocculiP.TavanielloS.et al (2019). Comparison of quality traits among breast meat by current muscle abnormalities.Food Res. Internatl.115369–376. 10.1016/j.foodres.2018.11.020
6
BaldiG.SogliaF.MazzoniM.SirriF.CanonicoL.BabiniE.et al (2018). Implications of white striping and spaghetti meat abnormalities on meat quality and histological features in broilers.Animal12164–173. 10.1017/S1751731117001069
7
BarnesM.MortonL.BennettR.BaileyA.SimsT. (1976). Presence of type III collagen in guinea-pig dermal scar.Biochem. J.157263–266. 10.1042/bj1570263
8
BlaauboerM. E.BoeijenF. R.EmsonC. L.TurnerS. M.Zandieh-DoulabiB.HanemaaijerR.et al (2014). Extracellular matrix proteins: a positive feedback loop in lung fibrosis?Matrix Biol.34170–178. 10.1016/j.matbio.2013.11.002
9
BornsteinP.SageH. (1980). Structurally distinct collagen types.Annu. Rev. Biochem.49957–1003.
10
BrissonB. K.MauldinE. A.LeiW.VogelL. K.PowerA.LoD.et al (2015). Type III collagen directs stromal organization and limits metastasis in a murine model of breast cancer.Am. J. Pathol.1851471–1486. 10.1016/j.ajpath.2015.01.029
11
ChristovC.ChrétienF.Abou-KhalilR.BassezG.ValletG.AuthierF.-J.et al (2007). Muscle satellite cells and endothelial cells: close neighbors and privileged partners.Mol. Biol. Cell181397–1409. 10.1091/mbc.e06-08-0693
12
ClarkD. L.VellemanS. G. (2017). Spatial influence on breast muscle morphological structure, myofiber size, and gene expression associated with the wooden breast myopathy in broilers.Poult. Sci.952930–2945. 10.3382/ps/pew243
13
CollinsK. E.KiepperB. H.RitzC. W.McLendonB. L.WilsonJ. L. (2014). Growth, livability, feed consumption, and carcass composition of the Athens Canadian random bred 1955 meat-type chicken versus the 2012 high-yielding Cobb 500 broiler.Poult. Sci.932953–2962. 10.3382/ps.2014-04224
14
DanielsonK. G.BaribaultH.HolmesD. F.GrahamH.KadlerK. V.IozzoR. V. (1997). Targeted disruption of decorin leads to abnormal collagen fibril morphology and skin fragility.J. Cell Biol.136729–743. 10.1083/jcb.136.3.729
15
DransfieldE.SosnickiA. A. (1999). Relationship between muscle growth and poultry meat quality.Poult. Sci.78743–746. 10.1093/ps/78.5.743
16
GibertiniS. G.ZanottiS.SavadoriP.CurcioM.SarediS.SaernoF.et al (2014). Fibrosis and inflammation are greater in muscles of beta-sarcoglycan-null mouse than mdx mouse.Cell Tissue Res.356427–443. 10.1007/s00441-014-1854-4
17
HavensteinG. B.FerketP. R.QureshiM. A. (2003). Carcass composition and yield of 1957 versus 2001 broilers when fed representative 1957 and 2001 broiler diets.Poult. Sci.821509–1518. 10.1093/ps/82.10.1509
18
HavensteinG. B.FerketP. R.ScheidelerS. E.LarsonB. T. (1994a). Growth, livability, and feed conversion of 1957 vs. 1991 broilers when fed “typical” 1957 and 1991 broiler diets.Poult. Sci.731785–1794. 10.3382/ps.0731785
19
HavensteinG. B.FerketP. R.SchedidlerS. E.RivesD. V. (1994b). Carcass composition and yield of 1991 vs. 1957 broilers when fed “typical” 1957 and 1991 broiler diets.Poult. Sci.731795–1804. 10.3382/ps.0731795
20
HurmeT.KalimoH.SandbergM.LehtoM.VuorioE. (1991). Localization of type I and III collagen and fibronectin production in injured gastrocnemius muscle.Lab. Investig.6476–81.
21
KovanenV.SuominenH. (1989). Age- and training-related changes in collagen metabolism of rat skeletal muscle.Eur. J. Appl. Physiol.58765–771. 10.1007/bf00637389
22
KuttappanV. A.ShivaprasadH.IShawB. A.ValentineB. A.HargisB. M.ClarkF. D.et al (2013). Pathological changes associated with white striping in broiler breast muscles.Poult. Sci.92331–338. 10.3382/ps.2012-02646
23
LightN.ChampionA. E. (1984). Characterization of muscle epimysium, perimysium, and endomysium collagens.Biochem. J.2191017–1026. 10.1042/bj2191017
24
MazzoniM.PetracciM.MeluzziA.CavaniC.ClavenzaniP.SirriF. (2015). Relationship between pectoralis major muscle histology and quality traits of chicken meat.Poult. Sci.94123–130. 10.3382/ps/peu043
25
McConnellJ. C.O’ConnellO. V.BrennanK.WeipingL.HoweM.JosephL.et al (2016). Increased peri-ductal collagen micro-organization may contribute to raised mammographic density.Breast Cancer Res.18:5. 10.1186/s13058-015-0664-218
26
McCormickR. J. (1994). The flexibility of the collagen compartment of muscle.Meat Sci.3679–91. 10.1016/0309-1740(94)90035-3
27
MerkelJ.DiPaoloB.HallockG.RiceD. (1988). Type I and type III collagen content of healing wounds in fetal and adult rats.Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol. Med.187493–497. 10.3181/00379727-187-42694
28
MossF. P.LeBlondC. P. (1971). Satellite cells are the source of nuclei in muscles of growing rats.Anat. Rec.170421–435. 10.1002/ar.1091700405
29
NotbohmH.MoslerS.MüllerP. K.BrinckmannJ. (1993). In vitro formation and aggregation of heterotypic collagen I and III fibrils.Int. J. Biol. Macromol.15299–304. 10.1016/0141-8130(93)90030-p
30
OrimoS.HiyamutaE.ArahataK.SugitaH. (1991). Analysis of inflammatory cells and complement C3 in bupivacaine-induced myonecrosis.Muscle Nerve14515–520. 10.1002/mus.880140605
31
ReiserJ. M.McCormickR. J.RuckerR. B. (1992). The enzymatic and non-enzymatic crosslinking of collagen and elastin.FASEB J.62439–2449.
32
RomanicA. M.AdachiE.KadlerK. E.HojimaY.ProckopD. J. (1991). Copolymerization of pNcollagen III and collagen I. pNcollagen III decreases the rate of incorporation of collagen I into fibrils, the amount of collagen I incorporate, and the diameter of the fibrils formed.J. Biol. Chem.26612703–12709.
33
SerranoA. L.Muňoz-CánovesP. (2010). Regulation and dysregulation of fibrosis in skeletal muscle.Exp. Cell Res.3163050–3058. 10.1016/j.yexcr.2010.05.035
34
SihvoH.-K.ImmonenK.PuolanneE. (2014). Myodegeneration with fibrosis and regeneration in the pectoralis major muscle of broilers.Vet. Pathol.51619–623. 10.1177/0300985813497488
35
SmithJ. H. (1963). Relation to body size to muscle cell size and number in the chicken.Poult. Sci.42619–623.
36
StokesM. B.HollerS.CuiY.HudkinsK. L.EitnerF.FogoA.et al (2000). Expression of decorin, biglycan, and collagen type I in human renal fibrosing disease.Kidney Int.57487–498. 10.1046/j.1523-1755.2000.00868.x
37
TonnigesJ. R.ClarkD. L.VellemanS. G. (2019). The effect of the wooden breast fibrotic myopathy in broilers on fibrillar collagen organization and decorin-collagen binding.Avian. Dis.6348–60. 10.1637/11985-102218-Reg.1
38
VellemanS. G. (2015). Relationship of skeletal muscle development and growth to breast muscle myopathies: a review.Avian. Dis.59525–531. 10.1637/11223-063015-Review.1
39
VellemanS. G. (2019). Recent developments in breast muscle myopathies associated with growth in poultry.Ann. Rev. Anim. Biosci.7289–308. 10.1146/annurev-animal-020518-115311
40
VellemanS. G.AndersonJ. W.CoyC. S.NestorK. E. (2003). Effect of selection for growth rate on muscle damage during turkey breast muscle development.Poult. Sci.821069–1074. 10.1093/ps/82.7.1069
41
VellemanS. G.ClarkD. L. (2015). Histopathologic and myogenic gene expression changes associated with wooden breast in broiler breast muscles.Avian. Dis.59410–418. 10.1637/11097-042015-Reg.1
42
VellemanS. G.ClarkD. L.TonnigesJ. R. (2017). Fibrillar collagen organization associated with the broiler wooden breast fibrotic myopathy.Avian. Dis.61481–490. 10.1637/11738-080217-Reg.1
43
VellemanS. G.ClarkD. L.TonnigesJ. R. (2018). The effect of the wooden breast myopathy on sarcomere structure and organization.Avian. Dis.6228–35. 10.1637/11766-110217-Reg.1
44
WeberI. T.HarrisonR. W.IozzoR. V. (1996). Model structure of decorin and implication for collagen fibrillogenesis.J. Biol. Chem.27131767–31770.
45
WeberL.MeigelW.SpierW. (1978). Collagen polymorphism in pathologic human scars.Arch. Dermatol. Res.26163–71.
46
WilsonB. W.NiebergP. S.BuhrR. J. (1990). Turkey muscle growth and focal myopathy.Poult. Sci.691553–1562. 10.3382/ps.0691553
47
YostJ. K.KenneyP. B.SliderS. D.RussellR. W.KilleferJ. (2002). Influence of selection for breast muscle mass on myosin isoform composition and metabolism of deep pectoralis muscles of male and female turkeys.Poult. Sci.81911–917. 10.1093/ps/81.6.911
48
ZimmermanS. D.ThomasD. P.VellemanS. G.LiX.HansenT. R.McCormickR. J. (2001). Time course of collagen and decorin changes in rat cardiac and skeletal muscle post-MI.Am. J. Physiol. Heart Circ. Physiol.281H1816–H1822. 10.1152/ajpheart.2001.281.4.H1816
Summary
Keywords
collagen, fibrosis, muscle, necrosis, wooden breast
Citation
Velleman SG (2020) Pectoralis Major (Breast) Muscle Extracellular Matrix Fibrillar Collagen Modifications Associated With the Wooden Breast Fibrotic Myopathy in Broilers. Front. Physiol. 11:461. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2020.00461
Received
31 December 2019
Accepted
16 April 2020
Published
07 May 2020
Volume
11 - 2020
Edited by
Yajun Wang, Sichuan University, China
Reviewed by
Francesca Soglia, University of Bologna, Italy; Xiquan Zhang, South China Agricultural University, China
Updates

Check for updates
Copyright
© 2020 Velleman.
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Sandra G. Velleman, Velleman.1@osu.edu
This article was submitted to Avian Physiology, a section of the journal Frontiers in Physiology
Disclaimer
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.