This process is driven by a change in osmotic pressure from the sudden influx of water and elastic stretching of the capsule. The first phase is the initial, projectile-like discharge and target penetration of a densely coiled thread from the nematocyst capsule. vectensis nematocysts during firing, grouping this process into three distinct phases. Using these state-of-the-art methods, the researchers characterized the explosive discharge and biomechanical transformation of N. We utilized fluorescence microscopy, advanced imaging techniques and 3D electron microscopy combined with genetic perturbations to understand the structure and operating mechanism of nematocysts."Īhmet Karabulut, a predoctoral researcher Karabulut and Gibson, in collaboration with scientists at the Stowers Institute Technology Centers, used advanced imaging, three-dimensional electron microscopy, and gene knockdown approaches to discover that the kinetic energy required for piercing and poisoning a target involved both osmotic pressure and elastic energy stored within multiple nematocyst sub-structures. The Stowers team's new model for stinging cell function provides crucial insights into the extraordinarily complex architecture and firing mechanism of nematocysts, the technical name for cnidarian stinging organelles. Insights from the work could lead to beneficial applications in medicine, including the development of microscopic therapeutic delivery devices for humans. Their work involved the application of cutting-edge microscopic imaging technologies along with the development of a biophysical model to enable a comprehensive understanding of a mechanism that has remained elusive for over a century. The study, published online in Nature Communications on June 17, 2022, was led by Ahmet Karabulut, a predoctoral researcher in the lab of Matt Gibson, PhD. But how do the stinging cells of jellyfish and their coral and sea anemone cousins actually work? New research from the Stowers Institute for Medical Research unveils a precise operational model for the stinging organelle of the starlet sea anemone, Nematostella vectensis. Summertime beachgoers are all too familiar with the painful reality of a jellyfish sting.
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