53 / 2018-07-13 11:05:19

A bionic adhesive hydrogel based on dopamine and gelatin

Mussel,adhesion,hydrogel,dopamine,gelatin

全体主题 > v. Design of therapeutic products, cellular products, and macromolecular products

Mussel, a kind of bivalve molluscs, commonly lives in wet environments, such as the sea and coastal areas. Mussels can firmly adhere to the surface of various matrix by its its strong byssal threads, even suffer from repeated erosion of waves and tides. Many research works have found that this high adhension is due to the protein secreted from mussel foot when they attach on the surface. The further research works have shown that the chemical group of dopamine (DOPA) in the protein chemical chain is the key factors for its adhesive property. So introducing DOPA into polymer chain might obtain the new one with high adhesion.
In our study, dopamine was introduced into the gelatin chain to mimic the structure and the property of mussels’ adhesive protein. 1,4-phenylenebisboronic acid was used as a cross-linking agent and the high adhesive hydrogel was formed. This hydrogel had good adhesion to many materials, such as steel, titanium, rubber, wood, glass and so on. They also had good adhesion to organic tissues, such as skin, heart, liver, spleen and bone. Especially, this hydrogel almost had no toxic effect to cells in vitro. So this hydrogel might have future application in biomedical applications, such as tissue adhesive and bioink for 3D-printing.