Although many animals in nature have evolved their own controllable transparency for hidden purposes, so far, the dynamics of living human cells and tissues (that is, Controllable and reversible) transparency development is still elusive.
Scientists know that many cephalopods can change the way their skin spreads, absorbs and reflects light to achieve the purpose of camouflage. For example, female opalescent calamari can use this mechanism to change the coat film from a nearly transparent color to white to avoid attacks. In either case, this process is controlled by a series of white pigment cells, which contain reflective proteins that can change the optical properties of the cells.
This time, Aron Grodsky, a researcher at the University of California, Irvine and colleagues, was inspired by the adaptive skin cells of cephalopods, And draw inspiration from its structure and function, set about designing and transforming human cells. These cells contain reconfigurable protein-based photonic structures that can be controlled and reversibly turned transparent.
The research team selected human embryonic kidney cells and engineered them to express the reflective protein A1 in the coat of opalescent calamari. Later, they studied whether the expression of the protein affects the interaction between human embryonic kidney cells and light, and whether these properties are controllable. They used different concentrations of sodium chloride solution in the laboratory to change the transparency of the engineered cells.
Transparency allows scientists to accurately observe every nuance of the cell, and controllable and reversible mastering of this process of translucency will treat the cell Have a deeper understanding of internal dynamic processes. The researchers concluded that their latest results will be able to more clearly show all the processes inside living cells and living tissues, and through this step to deepen the scientists’ understanding of various biological systems.
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When cells can become transparent, humans can finally see this little thing more clearly. In fact, researchers have been working to explore the biologicalFine structure in order to better understand the physiological and pathological process of cells. Previously, researchers have also achieved transparency of tissues and organs, but controllable and reversible transparency is still the first time. This is equivalent to the scientific researcher putting a certain switch on the cell, which can switch the state of the cell with one click. Moreover, it is also a study that draws inspiration from nature. Researchers learned the mechanism of the squid’s discoloration and set out to transform human cells. In nature, the tiger and the dragon lie, and there are “mentors” shining with wisdom.
(Original title Human cells achieve controllable and reversible transparency for the first time, clearly showing the dynamic processes inside living cells and living tissue)