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Hagfish slime exudate stabilization and its effect on slime formation and functionality.

L J Böni1, R Zurflüh1, M Widmer1

  • 1Department of Health Science and Technology, ETH Zürich, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland.

Biology Open
|June 17, 2017
PubMed
Summary

Hagfish slime exudate stability was tested using two methods: citrate/PIPES buffer and oil. Both methods preserved slime functionality for 5 hours, but longer storage led to decreased function due to different breakdown mechanisms.

Keywords:
Exudate storageHagfish slimeProtein glueStabilizationVesicle rupture

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Area of Science:

  • Biomaterials Science
  • Marine Biology
  • Biochemistry

Background:

  • Hagfish produce a unique, dilute hydrogel slime when threatened.
  • This slime originates from a glandular exudate that rapidly forms slime upon contact with seawater.
  • Studying hagfish slime ex vivo requires effective stabilization of the sensitive exudate for material property characterization.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To compare the efficacy of two primary exudate stabilization methods: citrate/PIPES (CP) buffer and oil immersion.
  • To investigate the impact of storage time, temperature, and pH on exudate stability and slime functionality.
  • To elucidate the distinct breakdown mechanisms associated with each stabilization method over time.

Main Methods:

  • Exudate stabilization using high osmolarity citrate/PIPES (CP) buffer and oil immersion.
  • Assessment of slime functionality via water retention measurements.
  • Evaluation of exudate stability under varying time, temperature, and pH conditions.

Main Results:

  • Both CP buffer and oil successfully preserved hagfish exudate and slime functionality for up to 5 hours.
  • Prolonged storage (beyond 5 hours) resulted in decreased slime functionality, with distinct breakdown pathways for each method.
  • Oil stabilization appeared to promote vesicle rupture, while CP buffer storage inhibited skein unraveling, potentially due to protein denaturation, especially at higher pH (8.5).

Conclusions:

  • Short-term stabilization (≤5 hours) of hagfish exudate is achievable with both CP buffer and oil.
  • Long-term storage reveals differing degradation mechanisms: osmotic-driven swelling/rupture in oil and inhibited skein unraveling (protein denaturation) in CP buffer.
  • Hagfish slime formation exhibits pH insensitivity around neutral pH (6-9) in seawater or phosphate buffer, but CP buffer pH significantly impacts exudate stability.