Multiscale Imaging Reveals the Hierarchical Organization of Fibrillin Microfibrils.

ABSTRACT: Fibrillin microfibrils are evolutionarily ancient, structurally complex extracellular polymers found in mammalian elastic tissues where they endow elastic properties, sequester growth factors and mediate cell signalling; thus, knowledge of their structure and organization is essential for a more complete understanding of cell function and tissue morphogenesis. By combining multiple imaging techniques, we visualize three levels of hierarchical organization of fibrillin structure ranging from micro-scale fiber bundles in the ciliary zonule to nano-scale individual microfibrils. Serial block-face scanning electron microscopy imaging suggests that bundles of zonule fibers are bound together by circumferential wrapping fibers, which is mirrored on a shorter-length scale where individual zonule

SUBMITTER: Godwin ARF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6193142 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature