Colloidal structure and proton conductivity of the gel within the electrosensory organs of cartilaginous fishes.

ABSTRACT: 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 o

SUBMITTER: Phillips M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8379299 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature