.... (1979). The juxtaligamental cells of Ophiocomina nigra (Abildgaard) (Echinodermata: Ophiuroidea) and their possible role in mechano-effector function of collagenous tissue . Cell Tissue Res.   197 , 515 - 530 . 10.1007/BF00233574 Wilkie , I. C. (2005). Mutable collagenous tissues...

...Akira Yamada; Masaki Tamori; Tomoaki Iketani; Kazuhiro Oiwa; Tatsuo Motokawa SUMMARY The dermis of sea cucumbers is a catch connective tissue or mutable collagenous tissue that shows large changes in stiffness. Extensive studies on the dermis revealed that it can adopt three different states having...

... mechanisms of the stiffness changes are discussed. * Author for correspondence ([email protected]) 16 2 2010 © 2010. 2010 catch connective tissue mutable collagenous tissue echinoderm sea cucumber water content hydrogel Echinoderms have special connective tissues...

... of approximately 2.3 in both sea star species. The tensile strength of the tube foot stem was investigated considering the two tissues that could assume a load-bearing function, i.e. the retractor muscle and the connective tissue. The latter is a mutable collagenous tissue presenting a fivefold difference...

... of the extracellular matrix, as in the mutable collagenous tissue of echinoderms(Wilkie, 2005). Contractile cells may be present in the internal tissue of C. reniformis . The endopinacocytes lining the inhalant and exhalant canals of sponges are thought to be contractile, primarily on the grounds...

...I. C. Wilkie SUMMARY The mutable collagenous tissue (MCT) of echinoderms has the capacity to change its mechanical properties in a time scale of less than 1 s to a few minutes under the influence of the nervous system. Although accumulating evidence indicates that the mechanical adaptability of MCT...

....tb00387.x Wilkie , I. C. (1996). Mutable collagenous tissues: Extracellular matrix as mechano-effector . Echinoderm Studies 5 , 61 – 102 . The authors would like to thank Nicholas Holland for invaluable assistance with transmission electron microscopy and with review comments...