Nanoscale Conformation and Compressibility of Cartilage Aggrecan Using Microcontact Printing and Atomic Force Microscopy

∼ 50 nm, aggrecan molecules spaced ∼20 nm apart, contour length ∼400 nm, side chain (mostly GAG) contour length ∼40 nm, side chains spaced ∼2-4 nm apart). Introduction. The nanomechanical behavior of cartilage extracellular matrix (ECM) macromolecules has received increasing attention1-4 since ECM degradation leads to tissue and joint dysfunction with age and arthritis. 5 For example, loss of the branched proteoglycan,