Dataset Information

Three-dimensional midwater camouflage from a novel two-component photonic structure in hatchetfish skin.

ABSTRACT: The largest habitat by volume on Earth is the oceanic midwater, which is also one of the least understood in terms of animal ecology. The organisms here exhibit a spectacular array of optical adaptations for living in a visual void that have only barely begun to be described. We describe a complex pattern of broadband scattering from the skin of Argyropelecus sp., a hatchetfish found in the mesopelagic zone of the world's oceans. Hatchetfish skin superficially resembles the unpolished side of aluminium foil, but on closer inspection contains a complex composite array of subwavelength-scale dielectric structures. The superficial layer of this array contains dielectric stacks that are rectangular in cross-section, while the deeper layer contains dielectric bundles that are elliptical in cross-section; the cells in both layers have their longest dimension running parallel to the dorsal-ventral axis of the fish. Using the finite-difference time-domain approach and photographic radiometry, we explored the structural origins of this scattering behaviour and its environmental consequences. When the fish's flank is illuminated from an arbitrary incident angle, a portion of the scattered light exits in an arc parallel to the fish's anterior-posterior axis. Simultaneously, some incident light is also scattered downwards through the complex birefringent skin structure and exits from the ventral photophores. We show that this complex scattering pattern will provide camouflage simultaneously against the horizontal radially symmetric solar radiance in this habitat, and the predatory bioluminescent searchlights that are common here. The structure also directs light incident on the flank of the fish into the downwelling, silhouette-hiding counter-illumination of the ventral photophores.

SUBMITTER: Rosenthal EI

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5454286 | biostudies-literature | 2017 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Three-dimensional midwater camouflage from a novel two-component photonic structure in hatchetfish skin.

Rosenthal Eric I EI Holt Amanda L AL Sweeney Alison M AM

Journal of the Royal Society, Interface 20170503 130

The largest habitat by volume on Earth is the oceanic midwater, which is also one of the least understood in terms of animal ecology. The organisms here exhibit a spectacular array of optical adaptations for living in a visual void that have only barely begun to be described. We describe a complex pattern of broadband scattering from the skin of <i>Argyropelecus</i> sp., a hatchetfish found in the mesopelagic zone of the world's oceans. Hatchetfish skin superficially resembles the unpolished sid ...[more]

PMID: 28468923

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Project description:Assessing skin irritation potential is critical for the safety evaluation of topical drugs and other consumer products such as cosmetics. The use of advanced cellular models, as an alternative to replace animal testing in the safety evaluation for both consumer products and ingredients, is already mandated by law in the European Union (EU) and other countries. However, there has not yet been a large-scale comparison of the effects of topical-use compounds in different cellular skin models. This study assesses the irritation potential of topical-use compounds in different cellular models of the skin that are compatible with high throughput screening (HTS) platforms. A set of 451 topical-use compounds were first tested for cytotoxic effects using two-dimensional (2D) monolayer models of primary neonatal keratinocytes and immortalized human keratinocytes. Forty-six toxic compounds identified from the initial screen with the monolayer culture systems were further tested for skin irritation potential on reconstructed human epidermis (RhE) and full thickness skin (FTS) three-dimensional (3D) tissue model constructs. Skin irritation potential of the compounds was assessed by measuring tissue viability, trans-epithelial electrical resistance (TEER), and secretion of cytokines interleukin 1 alpha (IL-1?) and interleukin 18 (IL-18). Among known irritants, high concentrations of methyl violet and methylrosaniline decreased viability, lowered TEER, and increased IL-1? secretion in both RhE and FTS models, consistent with irritant properties. However, at low concentrations, these two compounds increased IL-18 secretion without affecting levels of secreted IL-1?, and did not reduce tissue viability and TEER, in either RhE or FTS models. This result suggests that at low concentrations, methyl violet and methylrosaniline have an allergic potential without causing irritation. Using both HTS-compatible 2D cellular and 3D tissue skin models, together with irritation relevant activity endpoints, we obtained data to help assess the irritation effects of topical-use compounds and identify potential dermal hazards.

Dataset Information

Three-dimensional midwater camouflage from a novel two-component photonic structure in hatchetfish skin.

Publications

Three-dimensional midwater camouflage from a novel two-component photonic structure in hatchetfish skin.

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