0000000000389108
AUTHOR
Werner Baumgartner
Adhesion enhancement of cribellate capture threads by epicuticular waxes of the insect prey sheds new light on spider web evolution
To survive, web-building spiders rely on their capture threads to restrain prey. Many species use special adhesives for this task, and again the majority of those species cover their threads with viscoelastic glue droplets. Cribellate spiders, by contrast, use a wool of nanofibres as adhesive. Previous studies hypothesized that prey is restrained by van der Waals' forces and entrapment in the nanofibres. A large discrepancy when comparing the adhesive force on artificial surfaces versus prey implied that the real mechanism was still elusive. We observed that insect prey's epicuticular waxes infiltrate the wool of nanofibres, probably induced by capillary forces. The fibre-reinforced composi…
Supplementary material from Adhesion enhancement of cribellate capture threads by epicuticular waxes of the insect prey sheds new light on spider web evolution
Document includes figure S1, S2 and S3 as well as table S1 and S2
BLBP-expression in astrocytes during experimental demyelination and in human multiple sclerosis lesions
Several lines of evidence indicate that remyelination represents one of the most effective mechanisms to achieve axonal protection. For reasons that are not yet understood, this process is often incomplete or fails in multiple sclerosis (MS). Activated astrocytes appear to be able to boost or inhibit endogenous repair processes. A better understanding of remyelination in MS and possible reasons for its failure is needed. Using the well-established toxic demyelination cuprizone model, we created lesions with either robust or impaired endogenous remyelination capacity. Lesions were analyzed for mRNA expression levels by Affymetrix GeneChip® arrays. One finding was the predominance of immune a…
Movie S1 from Adhesion enhancement of cribellate capture threads by epicuticular waxes of the insect prey sheds new light on spider web evolution
Fluid matrix consisting of cuticular waxes propagates from the prey (here: elytra of C. maculatus) through the cribellate capture thread (here: U. plumipes). Sped up 8 times
Movie S2 from Adhesion enhancement of cribellate capture threads by epicuticular waxes of the insect prey sheds new light on spider web evolution
Single puffs of the capture thread of U. plumipes peel off the elytra of C. maculatus. Sped up 2.4 times.