Dissecting Cephalopod Camouflage: Extraction and Analysis of Optical Protein Nanostructures in Squid Loligo pealeii

非技术性：该奖项由材料研究部的生物材料计划和化学，生物工程，环境和运输系统部的生物技术和生物化学工程计划颁发，旨在探索头足类动物适应性着色背后的基本机制。鲸类是海洋生物，包括鱿鱼、章鱼和墨鱼。它们的肤色可以发生快速和适应性的变化，用于感知，通信，防御和繁殖目的，使它们能够融入或在当地环境中脱颖而出。我们的目标是确定这些动物是如何能够这样的互动功能，并确定哪些蛋白质和色素有助于这一功能。有了这些基本知识，PI的目标是设计新材料，灵感来自头足类动物，可能会经历类似的颜色变化反应。一个综合性的外展部分是该奖项的一个关键特征，在那里，PI将建立教育材料和经验，为学生在材料科学和工程领域的STEM职业做好准备。为此，PI将举办为期一周的研讨会，培训最多10名高中教师（包括非荣誉教师、荣誉教师和AP教师），学习如何设计、构建和测试受生物学系统启发的光学设备和材料。技术：在神经控制、肌肉驱动的色素器官（称为色素细胞）的支持下，Cephalopod可以主动调整它们的皮肤颜色。据了解，色素细胞有助于头足类动物着色的变化，通过积极的扩张和收缩的色素颗粒内的细胞弹性囊，然而，组成的颗粒和它们的作用，在调制散装着色仍然在很大程度上未知。这个建议的主要目的是确定如何的纳米结构和组合物的这些颗粒内的色素细胞器官影响广泛的区域着色在自适应伪装。PI将使用定制的提取方案来分离、纯化和鉴定色素中存在的蛋白质和小分子，研究它们的相互作用，并开发合成策略来概括它们吸收和散射所有波长可见光的能力。外展组件和教师研讨会将被设计为利用知识，工具和连接从这项研究到教育材料和经验，准备高中学生的STEM职业生涯和大学学位，他们可以探索生物学是如何被用来激发工程材料。

Non-technical: This award by the Biomaterials Program in the Division of Materials Research and the Biotechnology and Biochemical Engineering Program in the Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems is to explore the fundamental mechanisms behind adaptive coloration in cephalopods. Cephalopods are marine organisms that include squid, octopus, and cuttlefish. They can undergo rapid and adaptive changes in their skin color for sensing, communication, defense, and reproduction purposes enabling them to blend in or stand out in their local environment. The goal is to determine how these animals are capable of such interactive features and identify which proteins and pigments aid in this function. With this fundamental knowledge, PIs aim to design new materials inspired by cephalopods that may undergo similar color-changing responses. An integrative outreach component is a key feature of this award, where the PIs will build educational materials and experiences to prepare students for STEM careers in materials science and engineering. To this end, the PIs will develop a week-long workshop to train up to 10 high school teachers (mix of non-honors, honors, and AP teachers) on how to design, build, and test optical devices and materials inspired by systems in biology.Technical: Cephalopods can actively tune their dermal coloration with the support of neurally-controlled, muscle-actuated pigment organs known as chromatophores. It is known that chromatophores contribute to changes in cephalopod coloration through the active expansion and retraction of pigmented granules confined within a cytoelastic sac; however, the composition of the granules and their role in modulating bulk coloration remain largely unknown. The primary objective of this proposal is to identify how the nanostructure and composition of these granules localized within the chromatophore organs impact broad area coloration during adaptive camouflage. The PIs will use a customized extraction protocol to isolate, purify, and identify the proteins and small molecules present in the chromatophores, investigate their interactions and develop a synthetic strategy to recapitulate their ability to absorb and scatter all wavelengths of visible light. Outreach components and teacher workshops will be designed to leverage the knowledge, tools, and connections from this research into educational materials and experiences to prepare high school students for STEM careers and college degrees where they can explore how biology is used to inspire engineered materials.