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Biological Materials of Marine Origin pp 403–414Cite as

Egg-Capsule Proteins of Selachians

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Part of the book series: Biologically-Inspired Systems ((BISY,volume 4))

Abstract

Egg capsules of sharks, skates and chimaerods are made of very specific collagen and polyphenol-based fibrillar structures, which exhibit unusual preservation even when fossilized. The dogfish egg capsule is a composite material constructed largely from collagen fibrils with a highly ordered, kinked molecular arrangement set in a matrix containing spherical filler particles composed of hydrophobic protein. The capsule consists of collagenous three-dimensional very ordered open networks. This molecular construct is responsible not only for specific filtering properties, but also for strength of the unique structured capsule. Both capsular collagen and polyphenol-based proteins possess high biomimetic potential.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Experimental Physics, TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Freiberg, Sachsen, Germany

    Hermann Ehrlich

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  1. Hermann Ehrlich
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Ehrlich, H. (2015). Egg-Capsule Proteins of Selachians. In: Biological Materials of Marine Origin. Biologically-Inspired Systems, vol 4. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5730-1_12

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