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NMR spectroscopy reveals the presence and association of lipids and keratin in adhesive gecko setae

Lipid and protein aggregates are one of the fundamental materials of biological systems. Examples include cell membranes, insect cuticle, vertebrate epidermis, feathers, hair and adhesive structures known as ‘setae’ on gecko toes. Until recently gecko setae were assumed to be composed entirely of ke...

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Autores principales: Jain, Dharamdeep, Stark, Alyssa Y., Niewiarowski, Peter H., Miyoshi, Toshikazu, Dhinojwala, Ali
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Nature Publishing Group 2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5386106/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25902194
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep09594
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author Jain, Dharamdeep
Stark, Alyssa Y.
Niewiarowski, Peter H.
Miyoshi, Toshikazu
Dhinojwala, Ali
author_facet Jain, Dharamdeep
Stark, Alyssa Y.
Niewiarowski, Peter H.
Miyoshi, Toshikazu
Dhinojwala, Ali
author_sort Jain, Dharamdeep
collection PubMed
description Lipid and protein aggregates are one of the fundamental materials of biological systems. Examples include cell membranes, insect cuticle, vertebrate epidermis, feathers, hair and adhesive structures known as ‘setae’ on gecko toes. Until recently gecko setae were assumed to be composed entirely of keratin, but analysis of footprints left behind by geckos walking on surfaces revealed that setae include various kinds of lipids. However, the arrangement and molecular-level behavior of lipids and keratin in the setae is still not known. In the present study we demonstrate, for the first time, the use of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy techniques to confirm the presence of lipids and investigate their association with keratin in ‘pristine' sheds, or natural molts of the adhesive toe pad and non-adhesive regions of the skin. Analysis was also carried on the sheds after they were ‘delipidized’ to remove surface lipids. Our results show a distribution of similar lipids in both the skin and toe shed but with different dynamics at a molecular level. The present study can help us understand the gecko system both biologically and for design of synthetic adhesives, but the findings may be relevant to the characteristics of lipid-protein interactions in other biological systems.
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spelling pubmed-53861062017-04-14 NMR spectroscopy reveals the presence and association of lipids and keratin in adhesive gecko setae Jain, Dharamdeep Stark, Alyssa Y. Niewiarowski, Peter H. Miyoshi, Toshikazu Dhinojwala, Ali Sci Rep Article Lipid and protein aggregates are one of the fundamental materials of biological systems. Examples include cell membranes, insect cuticle, vertebrate epidermis, feathers, hair and adhesive structures known as ‘setae’ on gecko toes. Until recently gecko setae were assumed to be composed entirely of keratin, but analysis of footprints left behind by geckos walking on surfaces revealed that setae include various kinds of lipids. However, the arrangement and molecular-level behavior of lipids and keratin in the setae is still not known. In the present study we demonstrate, for the first time, the use of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy techniques to confirm the presence of lipids and investigate their association with keratin in ‘pristine' sheds, or natural molts of the adhesive toe pad and non-adhesive regions of the skin. Analysis was also carried on the sheds after they were ‘delipidized’ to remove surface lipids. Our results show a distribution of similar lipids in both the skin and toe shed but with different dynamics at a molecular level. The present study can help us understand the gecko system both biologically and for design of synthetic adhesives, but the findings may be relevant to the characteristics of lipid-protein interactions in other biological systems. Nature Publishing Group 2015-04-22 /pmc/articles/PMC5386106/ /pubmed/25902194 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep09594 Text en Copyright © 2015, Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder in order to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
spellingShingle Article
Jain, Dharamdeep
Stark, Alyssa Y.
Niewiarowski, Peter H.
Miyoshi, Toshikazu
Dhinojwala, Ali
NMR spectroscopy reveals the presence and association of lipids and keratin in adhesive gecko setae
title NMR spectroscopy reveals the presence and association of lipids and keratin in adhesive gecko setae
title_full NMR spectroscopy reveals the presence and association of lipids and keratin in adhesive gecko setae
title_fullStr NMR spectroscopy reveals the presence and association of lipids and keratin in adhesive gecko setae
title_full_unstemmed NMR spectroscopy reveals the presence and association of lipids and keratin in adhesive gecko setae
title_short NMR spectroscopy reveals the presence and association of lipids and keratin in adhesive gecko setae
title_sort nmr spectroscopy reveals the presence and association of lipids and keratin in adhesive gecko setae
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5386106/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25902194
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep09594
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