How does mutable collagenous tissue work?

The mutable collagenous tissue (MCT) of echinoderms can undergo extreme changes in passive mechanical properties within a timescale of less than 1 s to a few minutes, involving a mechanism that is under direct neural control and coordinated with the activities of muscles.

What is catch collagen and why is it important?

The collagen in this inner ring is rather special — it’s so-called “catch collagen”. It’s stiffness is under voluntary control by the sea urchin, probably through nerve action. When the urchin wants to move the spine, the collagen ring becomes soft and pliable, allowing the muscles to place the spine… just so…

What is the function of the water vascular system?

water vascular system is a modified part of coelom & consists of a system of sea water filled canals having certain corpuscles. It plays most vital role in the locomotion of the animals & comprises madreporite stone canal, ring canal, radial canal, Tiedman’s body, lateral canals & tube feet.

What kind of animal is a sea cucumber?

echinoderms
Sea cucumbers are animals, not vegetables. These squishy invertebrates are echinoderms, making them distant relatives to starfish and urchins. Unlike starfish or sea urchins, the bodies of sea cucumbers are covered with soft, leathery skin instead of hard spines.

Are echinoderms segmented?

Echinoderms: spiny-skinned animals that lack body segmentation but have radial symmetry (usually five g y y ( y part) and an internal skeleton.

What is Tiedemann’s body?

Tiedemann’s Bodies: The ring canal on its inner side gives off small irregularly shaped bodies which are known as thetiedemann’s bodies. They are of five pairs. The function of these bodies is to produce coelomic corpuscles which are released into the ring canal and so the system is known as water vascular system.

How do sea stars eat?

Did you know that sea stars have a peculiar way of eating? They digest prey outside of their bodies by extruding their stomach out through their mouth and enveloping their meal. Sea stars are mostly carnivorous and prey on mollusks—including clams, mussels and oysters—which they pry open with their suction-cupped feet.

What do Sand Dollars eat?

In its sandy seafloor habitat, a sand dollar uses its spines, aided by tiny hairs (cilia), to ferry food particles along its body to a central mouth on its bottom side. It captures plankton with spines and pincers (pedicellariae) on its body surface.

What are the mechanical properties of collagen?

Collagen plays crucial biomechanical roles in a wide array of animal tissues, but its mechanical properties remain largely static over short timescales.

Why study the mechanisms of mutability in human skin?

Understanding the mechanisms of mutability in this unique tissue may help design novel mechanically tunable synthetic biomaterials.

What is the fibrillar collagen network (ECM)?

Together with fibrillin-rich microfibrils ( 34) the fibrillar collagen network comprises the bulk of the extracellular matrix (ECM) of MCT.