Interfibrillar stiffening of echinoderm mutable collagenous tissue demonstrated at the nanoscale

The mutable collagenous tissue (MCT) of echinoderms (e.g., sea cucumbers and starfish) is a remarkable example of a biological material that has the unique attribute, among collagenous tissues, of being able to rapidly change its stiffness and extensibility under neural control. However, the mechani...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 2016-10, Vol.113 (42), p.E6362-E6371
Main Authors: Mo, Jingyi, Prévost, Sylvain F., Blowes, Liisa M., Egertová, Michaela, Terrill, Nicholas J., Wang, Wen, Elphick, Maurice R., Gupta, Himadri S.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Algorithms
Animals
Biological Sciences
Biomaterials
Biomechanical Phenomena
Biophysics
Collagen
Collagen - chemistry
Diffraction
Echinodermata
Extracellular Matrix - chemistry
Marine ecology
Models, Theoretical
Nanostructured materials
Physical Sciences
PNAS Plus
Sea Cucumbers
Starfish
Tissues
X-Ray Diffraction
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Summary:The mutable collagenous tissue (MCT) of echinoderms (e.g., sea cucumbers and starfish) is a remarkable example of a biological material that has the unique attribute, among collagenous tissues, of being able to rapidly change its stiffness and extensibility under neural control. However, the mechanisms of MCT have not been characterized at the nanoscale. Using synchrotron small-angle X-ray diffraction to probe time-dependent changes in fibrillar structure during in situ tensile testing of sea cucumber dermis, we investigate the ultrastructural mechanics of MCT by measuring fibril strain at different chemically induced mechanical states. By measuring a variable interfibrillar stiffness (EIF ), the mechanism of mutability at the nanoscale can be demonstrated directly. A model of stiffness modulation via enhanced fibrillar recruitment is developed to explain the biophysical mechanisms of MCT. Understanding the mechanisms of MCT quantitatively may have applications in development of new types of mechanically tunable biomaterials.
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.1609341113