title: A thin polymer membrane, nano-suit, enhancing survival across the continuum between air and high vacuum.
abstract: Most multicellular organisms can only survive under atmospheric pressure. The reduced pressure of a high vacuum usually leads to rapid dehydration and death. Here we show that a simple surface modification can render multicellular organisms strongly tolerant to high vacuum. Animals that collapsed under high vacuum continued to move following exposure of their natural extracellular surface layer (or that of an artificial coat-like polysorbitan monolaurate) to an electron beam or plasma ionization (i.e., conditions known to enhance polymer formation). Transmission electron microscopic observations revealed the existence of a thin polymerized extra layer on the surface of the animal. The layer acts as a flexible "nano-suit" barrier to the passage of gases and liquids and thus protects the organism. Furthermore, the biocompatible molecule, the component of the nano-suit, was fabricated into a "biomimetic" free-standing membrane. This concept will allow biology-related fields especially to use these membranes for several applications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine,1-20-1 Handayama, Higashi-ku, Hamamatsu 431-3192, Japan.
authors.forename: Yasuharu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Takaku
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Isao
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ohta
authors.forename: Daisuke
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ishii
authors.forename: Yoshinori
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Muranaka
authors.forename: Masatsugu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shimomura
authors.forename: Takahiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hariyama
mesh_terms: D000330:Aedes; D000388:Air; D000818:Animals; D032701:Biomimetics; D003465:Culex; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D011312:Pressure; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; D013499:Surface Properties; D014618:Vacuum
chemical_list: D011108:Polymers
keywords: animal behavior; biophysics; microscopy; nanotechnology; plasma physics