Paper List
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STAR-GO: Improving Protein Function Prediction by Learning to Hierarchically Integrate Ontology-Informed Semantic Embeddings
This paper addresses the core challenge of generalizing protein function prediction to unseen or newly introduced Gene Ontology (GO) terms by overcomi...
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Incorporating indel channels into average-case analysis of seed-chain-extend
This paper addresses the core pain point of bridging the theoretical gap for the widely used seed-chain-extend heuristic by providing the first rigoro...
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Competition, stability, and functionality in excitatory-inhibitory neural circuits
This paper addresses the core challenge of extending interpretable energy-based frameworks to biologically realistic asymmetric neural networks, where...
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Enhancing Clinical Note Generation with ICD-10, Clinical Ontology Knowledge Graphs, and Chain-of-Thought Prompting Using GPT-4
This paper addresses the core challenge of generating accurate and clinically relevant patient notes from sparse inputs (ICD codes and basic demograph...
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Learning From Limited Data and Feedback for Cell Culture Process Monitoring: A Comparative Study
This paper addresses the core challenge of developing accurate real-time bioprocess monitoring soft sensors under severe data constraints: limited his...
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Cell-cell communication inference and analysis: biological mechanisms, computational approaches, and future opportunities
This review addresses the critical need for a systematic framework to navigate the rapidly expanding landscape of computational methods for inferring ...
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Generating a Contact Matrix for Aged Care Settings in Australia: an agent-based model study
This study addresses the critical gap in understanding heterogeneous contact patterns within aged care facilities, where existing population-level con...
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Emergent Spatiotemporal Dynamics in Large-Scale Brain Networks with Next Generation Neural Mass Models
This work addresses the core challenge of understanding how complex, brain-wide spatiotemporal patterns emerge from the interaction of biophysically d...
Countershading coloration in blue shark skin emerges from hierarchically organized and spatially tuned photonic architectures inside skin denticles
City University of Hong Kong | Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces | University of Salzburg | B CUBE – Center for Molecular Bioengineering | Elasmobranch Research Belgium (ERB) | Medical University Innsbruck | AZTI, Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA) | Hong Kong Polytechnic University
30秒速读
IN SHORT: This paper solves the core problem of how blue sharks achieve their striking dorsoventral countershading camouflage, revealing that coloration originates not from dermal pigments but from hierarchical photonic architectures within individual skin denticles.
核心创新
- Biology Identifies denticles as the primary optical units ('pixels') for shark skin coloration, overturning the assumption that coloration originates from underlying dermal chromatophores.
- Methodology Establishes a multi-scale correlative imaging pipeline (optical, μCT, histology, FIB-SEM, TEM) to link nanoscale crystal organization with macroscopic color gradients.
- Biology Demonstrates a spatial gradient in photonic architecture: from ordered purine-crystal stacks (blue) to disordered assemblies (white), coupled with systematic changes in chromatophore composition and pulp cavity volume (25% in blue zone vs. 17% in white zone).
主要结论
- Blue shark countershading originates from denticle-embedded photonic architectures, not dermal pigments, with pulp cavity volume decreasing from 25% (blue) to 17% (white).
- Color variation is organized hierarchically: at the microscale, blue denticles contain a tessellated reflector-absorber system (iridophores + melanophores), while white denticles lack melanophores entirely.
- At the nanoscale, ordered purine-crystal stacks (~10-60 nm features) generate narrowband blue reflection, whereas disordered assemblies produce broadband white scattering, directly linking crystal organization to optical output.
摘要: The blue shark (Prionace glauca) exhibits a striking dorsoventral color gradient, transitioning from vibrant blue dorsally to silver and white ventrally—a pattern widely interpreted as pelagic countershading. Despite its ecological significance, the physical basis of this coloration remains unresolved. Here we show that this color system does not arise from dermal chromatophores, as in most vertebrates, but from a previously unrecognised photonic architecture housed within the pulp cavity of individual dermal denticles that cover the skin. Optical imaging reveals discrete color domains within denticle crowns, while external denticle morphology remains similar across color zones. Using spectroscopy, micro-computed tomography, histology and correlative electron microscopy, we demonstrate that color variation is organized across coupled micro- and nanoscale architectures. In blue denticles, iridophores and melanophores form a densely packed tessellated reflector–absorber system within an expanded crown-restricted pulp cavity. Transition-zone denticles exhibit partial cellular layering, whereas white denticles lack melanophores and contain only reflective cells. At the nanoscale, ordered purine-crystal stacks generate narrowband blue reflection, whereas disordered assemblies produce broadband white scattering. Together, these results reveal denticles as mechanically protected optical “pixels” whose hierarchical cellular and nanocrystal organization generates the shark’s countershaded coloration.