Researchers have used an innovative method of replacing proteins used to stick mollusks to various surfaces, while developing stronger-than-expected adhesives
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Anyone who has tried to pluck shellfish out of a tree or rock knows how stubborn creatures are when they cling to surfaces, so their glue secret has fascinated many scientists. For many years, researchers have tried to replace this unusual adhesive and its properties in the laboratory, focusing on some of the eight proteins that mollusks secrete and using them to adhere to different surfaces. Now, using an innovative method for organizing molecules, researchers at Northwestern University have been able to create a material that functions even better than the glue they were trying to mimic. The findings were published in the scientific journal Journal of the American Chemical Society.
“The latest adhesive is based on polymers that can be used as a biomedical adhesive, which means that researchers can now stick them to a specific tissue in the body,” said lead researcher Nathan Gianneschi. In addition, the glue will be able to hold in place adjacent molecules, a mechanism that can be useful in healing or repairing wounds. “
The proteins secreted from molluscs exist in nature and belong to a family of long, linear proteins with repeating units of amino acid sequences called tandem repeat proteins (TRPs). Being stretchy, strong and sticky proteins, they are found in the wings and legs of insects, in the silk of spiders and in the legs of mollusks. Scientists know the exact initial sequences of the amino acids that make up many of these proteins, however they have encountered difficulties in mimicking the complex natural process while retaining their special qualities. The researchers decided to take the repeating unit of one of these proteins consisting of a sequence of 10 amino acids and put it into a synthetic polymer, in order to preserve the original properties. The research group specializes in precise healing methods that use antibodies and other small molecules to fight various diseases, using a nano-carrier that carries the drug more accurately to the target site, such as a cancerous growth. However, the lead researcher argues that protein replication could be an innovative biological approach to address different challenges in the field differently, by altering the interactions within and between cells involved in the development of different diseases, or between cells, tissues and different substances. “In proteins, amino acids are organized in a chain configuration, but we took them and instead organized them in parallel, within a compressed backbone of synthetic polymers,” the lead researcher said. Eventually, the researchers created a structure of a protein array that resembled a brush, instead of arranging the amino acids in a straight line in a chain configuration.
In order to test the effectiveness of the innovative material, the researchers used it for gluing cells onto glass plates. The researchers stuck cells on the plates and next, after rinsing them, checked how many of the original cells had indeed been infected. They found that the innovative method led to the creation of super-adhesive cells when most of the cells placed on the plate with the adhesive did remain on it. The researchers were surprised to find that their glue worked better than the natural glue.
The research team hopes that their innovative approach can be widely applied to other proteins that have repeating units, in order to achieve new functions of those proteins. They assume that such an arrangement will perform better than the original arrangement, in light of the fact that they are more compressed. The researchers explain that the new sticky substance is just one of a host of possible applications of polymer-based alternative proteins, and that they are already thinking about the development of future materials. Resilin, for example, is a protein that forms elastic structures in the cuticle of many insects. The structures produced from this protein allow insects, for example, to jump very high and quickly. Razilin is considered one of the most elastic materials known to man – the elasticity of raziline is close to perfection, as it is able to release 96 percent of the energy invested in its stretching. This protein, for example, could be used in the development of more flexible aircraft.
The article describing the study findings
Knowing about the study
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