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Ultra-strong bio-glue from genetically engineered polypeptides

Nature Communications, vol. 12, pp. 3613

Abstract

The development of biomedical glues is an important, yet challenging task as seemingly mutually exclusive properties need to be combined in one material, i.e. strong adhesion and adaption to remodeling processes in healing tissue. Here, we report a biocompatible and biodegradable protein-based adhesive with high adhesion strengths. The maximum strength reaches 16.5 ± 2.2 MPa on hard substrates, which is comparable to that of commercial cyanoacrylate superglue and higher than other protein-based adhesives by at least one order of magnitude. Moreover, the strong adhesion on soft tissues qualifies the adhesive as biomedical glue outperforming some commercial products. Robust mechanical properties are realized without covalent bond formation during the adhesion process. A complex consisting of cationic supercharged polypeptides and anionic aromatic surfactants with lysine to surfactant molar ratio of 1:0.9 is driven by multiple supramolecular interactions enabling such strong adhesion. We demonstrate the glue's robust performance in vitro and in vivo for cosmetic and hemostasis applications and accelerated wound healing by comparison to surgical wound closures.

Authors 23

  1. Harvard University · University of Groningen · Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials · Tsinghua University

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Chemistry, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China

    School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

  2. Harvard University · Chinese Academy of Sciences · Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry · State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Resources Utilization

    Affiliation as printed

    School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA

    State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Resource Utilization, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, China

  3. Chinese Academy of Sciences · Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry · State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Resources Utilization

    Affiliation as printed

    State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Resource Utilization, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, China

  4. Chinese Academy of Sciences · Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry · State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Resources Utilization

    Affiliation as printed

    State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Resource Utilization, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, China

  5. Chinese Academy of Sciences · Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry · State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Resources Utilization

    Affiliation as printed

    State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Resource Utilization, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, China

  6. University of Alberta

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

  7. Zhejiang University

    Affiliation as printed

    Institute of Process Equipment, College of energy engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China

  8. Chinese Academy of Sciences · Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry · State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Resources Utilization

    Affiliation as printed

    State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Resource Utilization, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, China

  9. Chinese Academy of Sciences · Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry · State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Resources Utilization

    Affiliation as printed

    State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Resource Utilization, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, China

  10. Russian Academy of Sciences · Lomonosov Moscow State University · Semenov Institute of Chemical Physics

    Affiliation as printed

    N. N. Semenov Institute of Chemical Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russian Federation

    Physics Department, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russian Federation

  11. Chinese Academy of Sciences · Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry · State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Resources Utilization

    Affiliation as printed

    State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Resource Utilization, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, China

  12. Chinese Academy of Sciences · Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry · State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Resources Utilization

    Affiliation as printed

    State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Resource Utilization, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, China

  13. Chinese Academy of Sciences · Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry · State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Resources Utilization

    Affiliation as printed

    State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Resource Utilization, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, China

  14. University of Groningen · DWI – Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials · Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials

    Affiliation as printed

    DWI - Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials, Aachen, Germany

    Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

  15. Chinese Academy of Sciences · Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry · State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Resources Utilization

    Affiliation as printed

    State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Resource Utilization, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, China

  16. Chinese Academy of Sciences · Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry · State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Resources Utilization

    Affiliation as printed

    State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Resource Utilization, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, China

  17. Chinese Academy of Sciences · Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry · State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Resources Utilization

    Affiliation as printed

    State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Resource Utilization, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, China

  18. DWI – Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials

    Affiliation as printed

    DWI - Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials, Aachen, Germany

  19. South Ural State University · Lomonosov Moscow State University · DWI – Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials

    Affiliation as printed

    DWI - Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials, Aachen, Germany

    National Research South Ural State University, Chelyabinsk, Russian Federation

    Physics Department, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russian Federation

  20. Zhejiang University

    Affiliation as printed

    Institute of Process Equipment, College of energy engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China

  21. University of Alberta

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

  22. Chinese Academy of Sciences · Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry · State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Resources Utilization · Tsinghua University

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Chemistry, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China

    State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Resource Utilization, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, China

  23. Kai Liu corresponding

    Chinese Academy of Sciences · Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry · State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Resources Utilization · Tsinghua University

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Chemistry, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China. kailiu@tsinghua.edu.cn

    State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Resource Utilization, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, China. kailiu@tsinghua.edu.cn

    State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Resource Utilization, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, China

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References 68