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Article: Peptides controlling stiffness of connective tissue in sea cucumbers.
- Article from:
- The Biological Bulletin
- Article date:
- June 1, 1998
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1998 Marine Biological Laboratory. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Introduction
One key character of echinoderms is their unique catch connective tissue (CCT, Motokawa, 1984a; mutable connective tissue, Wilkie, 1984). This connective tissue can change its mechanical properties dramatically in response to various stimuli. The response, which can be stiffening or softening, is under nervous control.
The body wall of sea cucumbers consists of a thin epidermis, an extensive dennis, and inner muscles composed of a sheet of ring muscles and five bands of longitudinal muscles. In most species the dermis makes up by far the biggest part of the body wall. The dermis consists of pure CCT and can change its properties to the extent that ...