In the field of functional tissue engineering collagen represents an interesting option when site-specifically injected since it acts as a bio-scaffold replacing, supporting, reinforcing, protecting connective tissues but also stimulating the neo-synthesis of collagen.
Given these characteristics, the use of injectable collagen for the clinical management of musculo-skeletal disorders due to overuse, aging, injuries can be recommended to:
• speed up of functional recovery timing,
• induction of repair, remodelling, and regeneration processes,
• secondary pain control.
The main action mechanism of injectable collagen is related to mechanotrasduction properties: Injections of tropocollagen improve tensile characteristics of the extracellular matrix which surround fibroblasts and improves fibroblasts’ mechanical response speeding up the neosynthesis of collagen and inducing the proliferation of fibroblasts themselves. This mechanism of action has been studied and verified through studies, on ex vivo cellular models which provided data on the ability of swine type 1 tropocollagen to control tissue degeneration and improve the structural characteristics of the tissue.