title: Mechanical adaptability of a sponge extracellular matrix: Evidence for cellular control of mesohyl stiffness in Chondrosia reniformis Nardo.
abstract: The marine sponge Chondrosia reniformis Nardo consists largely of a collagenous tissue, the mesohyl, which confers a cartilaginous consistency on the whole animal. This investigation was prompted by the incidental observation that, despite a paucity of potentially contractile elements in the mesohyl, intact C. reniformis stiffen noticeably when touched. By measuring the deflection under gravity of beam-shaped tissue samples, it was demonstrated that the flexural stiffness of the mesohyl is altered by treatments that influence cellular activities, including [Ca2+] manipulation, inorganic and organic calcium channel-blockers and cell membrane disrupters, and that it is also sensitive to extracts of C. reniformis tissue that have been repeatedly frozen then thawed. Since the membrane disrupters and tissue extracts cause marked stiffening of mesohyl samples, it is hypothesised that cells in the mesohyl store a stiffening factor and that the physiologically controlled release of this factor is responsible for the touch-induced stiffening of intact animals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Glasgow Caledonian University, 70 Cowcaddens Road, Glasgow G4 0BA, Scotland, UK. i.wilkie@gcal.ac.uk
authors.forename: I C
authors.initials: IC
authors.lastname: Wilkie
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Parma
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bonasoro
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bavestrello
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cerrano
authors.forename: M D Candia
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Carnevali
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D002463:Cell Membrane Permeability / Q000187:drug effects; D005109:Extracellular Matrix / Q000502:physiology; D011161:Porifera / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D013718:Tensile Strength