Phillips Molly, Wheeler Alauna C, Robinson Matthew J, Leppert Valerie, Jia Manping, Rolandi Marco, Hirst Linda S, Amemiya Chris T
Department of Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Merced, Merced, CA 95343, USA.
iScience. 2021 Aug 4;24(9):102947. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2021.102947. eCollection 2021 Sep 24.
Cartilaginous fishes possess gel-filled tubular sensory organs called Ampullae of Lorenzini (AoL) that are used to detect electric fields. Although recent studies have identified various components of AoL gel, it has remained unclear how the molecules are structurally arranged and how their structure influences the function of the organs. Here we describe the structure of AoL gel by microscopy and small-angle X-ray scattering and infer that the material is colloidal in nature. To assess the relative function of the gel's protein constituents, we compared the microscopic structure, X-ray scattering, and proton conductivity properties of the gel before and after enzymatic digestion with a protease. We discovered that while proteins were largely responsible for conferring the viscous nature of the gel, their removal did not diminish proton conductivity. The findings lay the groundwork for more detailed studies into the specific interactions of molecules inside AoL gel at the nanoscale.
软骨鱼类拥有充满凝胶的管状感觉器官，称为罗伦氏壶腹（AoL），用于检测电场。尽管最近的研究已经确定了AoL凝胶的各种成分，但这些分子的结构排列方式以及它们的结构如何影响器官的功能仍不清楚。在这里，我们通过显微镜和小角X射线散射描述了AoL凝胶的结构，并推断该材料本质上是胶体。为了评估凝胶蛋白质成分的相对功能，我们比较了用蛋白酶进行酶消化前后凝胶的微观结构、X射线散射和质子传导特性。我们发现，虽然蛋白质在很大程度上赋予了凝胶的粘性，但去除它们并不会降低质子传导率。这些发现为在纳米尺度上更详细地研究AoL凝胶内部分子的特定相互作用奠定了基础。
