Skip to main content
  • Submit
  • About
    • Editorial Board
    • PNAS Staff
    • FAQ
    • Accessibility Statement
    • Rights and Permissions
    • Site Map
  • Contact
  • Journal Club
  • Subscribe
    • Subscription Rates
    • Subscriptions FAQ
    • Open Access
    • Recommend PNAS to Your Librarian
  • Log in
  • My Cart

Main menu

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Current
    • Special Feature Articles - Most Recent
    • Special Features
    • Colloquia
    • Collected Articles
    • PNAS Classics
    • List of Issues
  • Front Matter
  • News
    • For the Press
    • This Week In PNAS
    • PNAS in the News
  • Podcasts
  • Authors
    • Information for Authors
    • Editorial and Journal Policies
    • Submission Procedures
    • Fees and Licenses
  • Submit
  • About
    • Editorial Board
    • PNAS Staff
    • FAQ
    • Accessibility Statement
    • Rights and Permissions
    • Site Map
  • Contact
  • Journal Club
  • Subscribe
    • Subscription Rates
    • Subscriptions FAQ
    • Open Access
    • Recommend PNAS to Your Librarian

User menu

  • Log in
  • My Cart

Search

  • Advanced search
Home
Home

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Current
    • Special Feature Articles - Most Recent
    • Special Features
    • Colloquia
    • Collected Articles
    • PNAS Classics
    • List of Issues
  • Front Matter
  • News
    • For the Press
    • This Week In PNAS
    • PNAS in the News
  • Podcasts
  • Authors
    • Information for Authors
    • Editorial and Journal Policies
    • Submission Procedures
    • Fees and Licenses

New Research In

Physical Sciences

Featured Portals

  • Physics
  • Chemistry
  • Sustainability Science

Articles by Topic

  • Applied Mathematics
  • Applied Physical Sciences
  • Astronomy
  • Computer Sciences
  • Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
  • Engineering
  • Environmental Sciences
  • Mathematics
  • Statistics

Social Sciences

Featured Portals

  • Anthropology
  • Sustainability Science

Articles by Topic

  • Economic Sciences
  • Environmental Sciences
  • Political Sciences
  • Psychological and Cognitive Sciences
  • Social Sciences

Biological Sciences

Featured Portals

  • Sustainability Science

Articles by Topic

  • Agricultural Sciences
  • Anthropology
  • Applied Biological Sciences
  • Biochemistry
  • Biophysics and Computational Biology
  • Cell Biology
  • Developmental Biology
  • Ecology
  • Environmental Sciences
  • Evolution
  • Genetics
  • Immunology and Inflammation
  • Medical Sciences
  • Microbiology
  • Neuroscience
  • Pharmacology
  • Physiology
  • Plant Biology
  • Population Biology
  • Psychological and Cognitive Sciences
  • Sustainability Science
  • Systems Biology
Research Article

A thin polymer membrane, nano-suit, enhancing survival across the continuum between air and high vacuum

Yasuharu Takaku, Hiroshi Suzuki, Isao Ohta, Daisuke Ishii, Yoshinori Muranaka, Masatsugu Shimomura, and Takahiko Hariyama
PNAS first published April 15, 2013; https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1221341110
Yasuharu Takaku
Departments of aBiology and
gCore Research for Evolutional Science and Technology, Japan Science and Technology Agency, Hon-cho 4-1-8, Kawaguchi 332-0012, Japan
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Hiroshi Suzuki
bChemistry and
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Isao Ohta
cLaboratory for Ultrastructure Research, Research Equipment Center, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine,1-20-1 Handayama, Higashi-ku, Hamamatsu 431-3192, Japan;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Daisuke Ishii
dCenter for Fostering Young and Innovative Researchers, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Gokiso-cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8555, Japan;
eWorld Premier International Research Centers Initiative–Advanced Institute for Materials Research and
gCore Research for Evolutional Science and Technology, Japan Science and Technology Agency, Hon-cho 4-1-8, Kawaguchi 332-0012, Japan
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Yoshinori Muranaka
cLaboratory for Ultrastructure Research, Research Equipment Center, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine,1-20-1 Handayama, Higashi-ku, Hamamatsu 431-3192, Japan;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Masatsugu Shimomura
eWorld Premier International Research Centers Initiative–Advanced Institute for Materials Research and
fInstitute of Multidisciplinary Research for Advanced Materials, Tohoku University, Katahira 2-1-1, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8577, Japan; and
gCore Research for Evolutional Science and Technology, Japan Science and Technology Agency, Hon-cho 4-1-8, Kawaguchi 332-0012, Japan
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Takahiko Hariyama
Departments of aBiology and
gCore Research for Evolutional Science and Technology, Japan Science and Technology Agency, Hon-cho 4-1-8, Kawaguchi 332-0012, Japan
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • For correspondence: hariyama@hama-med.ac.jp
  1. Edited by David L. Denlinger, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, and approved March 8, 2013 (received for review December 10, 2012)

  • Article
  • Figures & SI
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF
Loading

Abstract

Most multicellular organisms can only survive under atmospheric pressure. The reduced pressure of a high vacuum usually leads to rapid dehydration and death. Here we show that a simple surface modification can render multicellular organisms strongly tolerant to high vacuum. Animals that collapsed under high vacuum continued to move following exposure of their natural extracellular surface layer (or that of an artificial coat-like polysorbitan monolaurate) to an electron beam or plasma ionization (i.e., conditions known to enhance polymer formation). Transmission electron microscopic observations revealed the existence of a thin polymerized extra layer on the surface of the animal. The layer acts as a flexible “nano-suit” barrier to the passage of gases and liquids and thus protects the organism. Furthermore, the biocompatible molecule, the component of the nano-suit, was fabricated into a “biomimetic” free-standing membrane. This concept will allow biology-related fields especially to use these membranes for several applications.

  • animal behavior
  • biophysics
  • microscopy
  • nanotechnology
  • plasma physics

Footnotes

  • ↵1To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: hariyama{at}hama-med.ac.jp.
  • Author contributions: Y.T., M.S., and T.H. designed research; Y.T., H.S., I.O., D.I., Y.M., and T.H. performed research; H.S., I.O., and Y.M. contributed new reagents/analytic tools; Y.T., D.I., and M.S. analyzed data; and Y.T. and T.H. wrote the paper.

  • The authors declare no conflict of interest.

  • This article is a PNAS Direct Submission.

  • This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.1073/pnas.1221341110/-/DCSupplemental.

Freely available online through the PNAS open access option.

Next
Back to top
Article Alerts
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on PNAS.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
A thin polymer membrane, nano-suit, enhancing survival across the continuum between air and high vacuum
(Your Name) has sent you a message from PNAS
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the PNAS web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Citation Tools
Thin polymer membrane preserves life in high vacuo
Yasuharu Takaku, Hiroshi Suzuki, Isao Ohta, Daisuke Ishii, Yoshinori Muranaka, Masatsugu Shimomura, Takahiko Hariyama
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Apr 2013, 201221341; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1221341110

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Request Permissions
Share
Thin polymer membrane preserves life in high vacuo
Yasuharu Takaku, Hiroshi Suzuki, Isao Ohta, Daisuke Ishii, Yoshinori Muranaka, Masatsugu Shimomura, Takahiko Hariyama
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Apr 2013, 201221341; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1221341110
Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Mendeley logo Mendeley
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences: 118 (2)
Current Issue

Submit

Sign up for Article Alerts

Jump to section

  • Article
  • Figures & SI
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF

You May Also be Interested in

Abstract depiction of a guitar and musical note
Science & Culture: At the nexus of music and medicine, some see disease treatments
Although the evidence is still limited, a growing body of research suggests music may have beneficial effects for diseases such as Parkinson’s.
Image credit: Shutterstock/agsandrew.
Scientist looking at an electronic tablet
Opinion: Standardizing gene product nomenclature—a call to action
Biomedical communities and journals need to standardize nomenclature of gene products to enhance accuracy in scientific and public communication.
Image credit: Shutterstock/greenbutterfly.
One red and one yellow modeled protein structures
Journal Club: Study reveals evolutionary origins of fold-switching protein
Shapeshifting designs could have wide-ranging pharmaceutical and biomedical applications in coming years.
Image credit: Acacia Dishman/Medical College of Wisconsin.
White and blue bird
Hazards of ozone pollution to birds
Amanda Rodewald, Ivan Rudik, and Catherine Kling talk about the hazards of ozone pollution to birds.
Listen
Past PodcastsSubscribe
Goats standing in a pin
Transplantation of sperm-producing stem cells
CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing can improve the effectiveness of spermatogonial stem cell transplantation in mice and livestock, a study finds.
Image credit: Jon M. Oatley.

Similar Articles

Site Logo
Powered by HighWire
  • Submit Manuscript
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • RSS Feeds
  • Email Alerts

Articles

  • Current Issue
  • Latest Articles
  • Archive

PNAS Portals

  • Anthropology
  • Chemistry
  • Classics
  • Front Matter
  • Physics
  • Sustainability Science
  • Teaching Resources

Information

  • Authors
  • Editorial Board
  • Reviewers
  • Librarians
  • Press
  • Site Map
  • PNAS Updates

Feedback    Privacy/Legal

Copyright © 2021 National Academy of Sciences. Online ISSN 1091-6490