Nanoscale patterns revealed within model research organism

(Nanowerk News) Species throughout the animal kingdom feature vital interfaces between the outermost layers of their bodies and the environment. Intricate microscopic structures—featured on the outer skin layers of humans, as one example—are known to assemble in matrix patterns. But how these complex structures, known as apical extracellular matrices (aECMs) are assembled into elaborately woven architectures has remained an elusive question. Now, following years of research and the power of a technologically advanced instrument, University of California San…