Morphogenesis of the diamond-type stereom microlattice and the origin of saddle-shaped minimal surfaces in the echinoderm skeleton
Abstract
Echinoderm endoskeleton has a unique trabecular microstructure, called stereom, which can exhibit highly ordered geometries. A striking example of these geometries is the recently discovered "diamond-type" stereom, characterized by a diamond triply periodic minimal surface (D-TPMS) and distinguished by exceptional mechanical and structural properties. Despite its promise for engineering applications, the morphogenesis of this microarchitecture remains poorly understood. Here, we applied a multimodal imaging and labeling approach to investigate the developmental processes underlying the formation of the diamond-type stereom in adults of a starfish Protoreaster nodosus. We showed that this stereom type formation of such ordered microstructures remains unresolved. We applied a multi-modal approach to investigate principles of diamond-type stereom morphogenesis. Our results provide key insight into the growth dynamics of this microarchitecture and highlight the essential role of the cytoskeleton, particularly F-actin, in guiding trabecular connectivity and the emergence of minimal-surface geometry, in both periodic and more irregular stereom types.
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BibTeX
@article{humanski2026morphogenesis,
title = {{Morphogenesis of the diamond-type stereom microlattice and the origin of saddle-shaped minimal surfaces in the echinoderm skeleton}},
author = {Kamil Humański and Giulio Facchini and Jenifer Croce and Dorota Kołbuk and Philippe Dubois and Przemysław Gorzelak},
journal = {Acta Biomaterialia},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.1016/j.actbio.2026.01.016},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05636294v1},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Morphogenesis of the diamond-type stereom microlattice and the origin of saddle-shaped minimal surfaces in the echinoderm skeleton
AU - Kamil Humański
AU - Giulio Facchini
AU - Jenifer Croce
AU - Dorota Kołbuk
AU - Philippe Dubois
AU - Przemysław Gorzelak
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/02
JO - Acta Biomaterialia
DO - 10.1016/j.actbio.2026.01.016
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05636294v1
AB - Echinoderm endoskeleton has a unique trabecular microstructure, called stereom, which can exhibit highly ordered geometries. A striking example of these geometries is the recently discovered "diamond-type" stereom, characterized by a diamond triply periodic minimal surface (D-TPMS) and distinguished by exceptional mechanical and structural properties. Despite its promise for engineering applications, the morphogenesis of this microarchitecture remains poorly understood. Here, we applied a multimodal imaging and labeling approach to investigate the developmental processes underlying the formation of the diamond-type stereom in adults of a starfish Protoreaster nodosus. We showed that this stereom type formation of such ordered microstructures remains unresolved. We applied a multi-modal approach to investigate principles of diamond-type stereom morphogenesis. Our results provide key insight into the growth dynamics of this microarchitecture and highlight the essential role of the cytoskeleton, particularly F-actin, in guiding trabecular connectivity and the emergence of minimal-surface geometry, in both periodic and more irregular stereom types.
SN - 1742-7061
SN - 1878-7568
ER -