Adaptive Adhesions of Barnacle-Inspired Adhesive Peptides

Abstract

The strategy of robust adhesion employed by barnacles renders them fascinating biomimetic candidates for developing novel wet adhesives. Particularly, barnacle cement protein 19k (cp19k) has been speculated to be the key adhesive protein establishing the priming layer in the initial barnacle cement construction. In this work, we systematically studied the sequence design rationale of cp19k by designing adhesive peptides inspired by the low-complexity STGA-rich and the charged segments of cp19k. Combining structure analysis and the adhesion performance test, we found that cp19k-inspired adhesive peptides possess excellent disparate adhesion strategies for both hydrophilic mica and hydrophobic self-assembled monolayer surfaces. Specifically, the low-complexity STGA-rich segment offers great structure flexibility for surface adhesion, while the hydrophobic and charged residues can contribute to the adhesion of the peptides on hydrophobic and charged surfaces. The adaptive adhesion strategy identified in this work broadens our understanding of barnacle adhesion mechanisms and offers valuable insights for designing advanced wet adhesives with exceptional performance on various types of surfaces.

Enhanced ROS scavenging and tissue adhesive abilities in injectable hydrogels by protein modification with oligoethyleneimine

“…Injectable hydrogels could be advantageous for critical treatments by alleviating the risk of damaging delicate tissues and providing greater control over wound healing processes. 5,6 As biological tissue is a wet and soft material with layers of interfacial water, which require extra effort to anchor adhesive materials 7,8 various approaches, including chemical reaction-based anchoring and physical interactions (hydrophobic interaction, [9][10][11][12] van der Waals force, 13 and hydrogen bonding 14,15 ) offer means to enhance adhesion strength without compromising biocompatibility.…”

Molecular evidence that barnacle attachment may be highly associated with a few eukaryotes in the marine biofilm

“…Example 7: The adhesion of barnacles is complex at both molecular and community levels; the sequence structure of its adhesin belongs to a relatively special one, which is different from all other known adhesin sequences [2][3][4]. The relationship between barnacles' adhesion and marine biofilm has been rarely discussed under various specific conditions, and no simple and clear conclusion has been reached.…”