Ligament

In anatomy, a ligament is the fibrous connective tissue that connects bones to other bones and is also known as articular ligament, articular larua,fibrous ligament, or true ligament.

Ligament can also refer to:

The study of ligaments is known as desmology (from Greek δεσμός, desmos, "bond"; and -λογία, -logia).

Ligaments are similar to tendons and fasciae as they are all made of connective tissue. The differences in them are in the connections that they make; ligaments connect one bone to another bone, tendons connect muscle to bone and fasciae connect muscles to other muscles. These are all found in the skeletal system of the human body. Ligaments cannot usually be regenerated naturally; however, there are periodontal ligament stem cells located near the periodontal ligament which are involved in the adult regeneration of periodontal ligament.

Ligament (bivalve)

A hinge ligament is a crucial part of the anatomical structure of a bivalve shell, i.e. the shell of a bivalve mollusk. The shell of a bivalve has two valves and these are joined together by the ligament at the dorsal edge of the shell. The ligament is made of a strong, flexible and elastic, fibrous, proteinaceous material which is usually pale brown, dark brown or black in color.

In life, the shell needs to be able to open a little (to allow the foot and siphons to protrude) and then close again. As well as connecting the two bivalve shells together at the hinge line, the ligament also functions as a spring which automatically opens the valves when the adductor muscle or muscles (that close the valves) relax.

Composition

The ligament is an uncalcified elastic structure comprised in its most minimal state of two layers: a lamellar layer and a fibrous layer. The lamellar layer consists entirely of organic material (a protein and collagen matrix), is generally brown in color, and is elastic in response to both compressional and tensional stresses. The fibrous layer is made of aragonite fibers and organic material, is lighter in color and often iridescent, and is elastic only under compressional stress. The protein responsible for the elasticity of the ligament is abductin, which has enormous elastic resiliency: this resiliency is what causes the valves of the bivalve mollusk to open when the adductor muscles relax.