Biomaterial Database

The cytoskeleton of the electric tissue of Electrophorus electricus, L. 2000

C D Mermelstein, and M L Costa, and V Moura Neto

Departamento de Histologia e Embriologia, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 21949-590, Brazil.

The electric eel Electrophorus electricus is a fresh water teleost showing an electrogenic tissue that produces electric discharges. This electrogenic tissue is distributed in three well-defined electric organs which may be found symmetrically along both sides of the eel. These electric organs develop from muscle and exhibit several biochemical properties and morphological features of the muscle sarcolema. This review examines the contribution of the cytoskeletal meshwork to the maintenance of the polarized organization of the electrocyte, the cell that contains all electric properties of each electric organ. The cytoskeletal filaments display an important role in the establishment and maintenance of the highly specialized membrane model system of the electrocyte. As a muscular tissue, these electric organs expresses actin and desmin. The studies that characterized these cytoskeletal proteins and their implications on the electrophysiology of the electric tissues are revisited.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008841	Actin Cytoskeleton	Fibers composed of MICROFILAMENT PROTEINS, which are predominately ACTIN. They are the smallest of the cytoskeletal filaments.	Actin Filaments,Microfilaments,Actin Microfilaments,Actin Cytoskeletons,Actin Filament,Actin Microfilament,Cytoskeleton, Actin,Cytoskeletons, Actin,Filament, Actin,Filaments, Actin,Microfilament,Microfilament, Actin,Microfilaments, Actin
D008854	Microscopy, Electron	Microscopy using an electron beam, instead of light, to visualize the sample, thereby allowing much greater magnification. The interactions of ELECTRONS with specimens are used to provide information about the fine structure of that specimen. In TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY the reactions of the electrons that are transmitted through the specimen are imaged. In SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY an electron beam falls at a non-normal angle on the specimen and the image is derived from the reactions occurring above the plane of the specimen.	Electron Microscopy
D003599	Cytoskeleton	The network of filaments, tubules, and interconnecting filamentous bridges which give shape, structure, and organization to the cytoplasm.	Cytoplasmic Filaments,Cytoskeletal Filaments,Microtrabecular Lattice,Cytoplasmic Filament,Cytoskeletal Filament,Cytoskeletons,Filament, Cytoplasmic,Filament, Cytoskeletal,Filaments, Cytoplasmic,Filaments, Cytoskeletal,Lattice, Microtrabecular,Lattices, Microtrabecular,Microtrabecular Lattices
D003720	Densitometry	The measurement of the density of a material by measuring the amount of light or radiation passing through (or absorbed by) the material.	Densitometries
D004557	Electric Organ	In about 250 species of electric fishes, modified muscle fibers forming disklike multinucleate plates arranged in stacks like batteries in series and embedded in a gelatinous matrix. A large torpedo ray may have half a million plates. Muscles in different parts of the body may be modified, i.e., the trunk and tail in the electric eel, the hyobranchial apparatus in the electric ray, and extrinsic eye muscles in the stargazers. Powerful electric organs emit pulses in brief bursts several times a second. They serve to stun prey and ward off predators. A large torpedo ray can produce of shock of more than 200 volts, capable of stunning a human. (Storer et al., General Zoology, 6th ed, p672)	Electric Organs,Organ, Electric,Organs, Electric
D004593	Electrophorus	A genus of fish, in the family GYMNOTIFORMES, capable of producing an electric shock that immobilizes fish and other prey. The species Electrophorus electricus is also known as the electric eel, though it is not a true eel.	Eel, Electric,Electric Eel,Electrophorus electricus
D000818	Animals	Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA.	Animal,Metazoa,Animalia
D015180	Electrophoresis, Gel, Two-Dimensional	Electrophoresis in which a second perpendicular electrophoretic transport is performed on the separate components resulting from the first electrophoresis. This technique is usually performed on polyacrylamide gels.	Gel Electrophoresis, Two-Dimensional,Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis, Two-Dimensional,2-D Gel Electrophoresis,2-D Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis,2D Gel Electrophoresis,2D PAGE,2D Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis,Electrophoresis, Gel, 2-D,Electrophoresis, Gel, 2D,Electrophoresis, Gel, Two Dimensional,Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis, 2-D,Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis, 2D,Two Dimensional Gel Electrophoresis,2 D Gel Electrophoresis,2 D Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis,Electrophoresis, 2-D Gel,Electrophoresis, 2D Gel,Electrophoresis, Two-Dimensional Gel,Gel Electrophoresis, 2-D,Gel Electrophoresis, 2D,Gel Electrophoresis, Two Dimensional,PAGE, 2D,Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis, 2 D,Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis, Two Dimensional,Two-Dimensional Gel Electrophoresis