Concentration-independent mechanics and structure of hagfish slime

Chaudhary, Gaurav; Fudge, Douglas S.; Macias‐Rodriguez, Braulio A.; Ewoldt, Randy H.

doi:10.1016/j.actbio.2018.08.022

Cited by 13 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 93 publications

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“…This is a likely scenario as single mucin molecules are known to dimerize and subsequently polymerize via disulfide bond formation. 35,37,38 This behavior suggests selfsimilarity for hagfish mucins, which was already postulated for whole hagfish slime by Chaudhary et al 33 DLS measurements for mucins in Milli-Q water further showed that the diffusion coefficient is constant at lower mucin concentrations but decreases at a mucin concentration of about c mucin = 0.2 mg ml À1 . In Fig.…”

Section: Mucin Concentration Dependencesupporting

confidence: 69%

“…It is considered that in natural hagfish slime the protein threads dominate the rheological signal, mainly contributing to the observed viscoelasticity (G 0 B 0.02 Pa at natural conditions of mucins and protein threads). 10,33 However, in absence of protein threads and at mucin concentrations higher than naturally employed, the elastic modulus G 0 can exceed 0.5 Pa (Fig. 6a) resulting in networks strengths 100 times higher that of natural hagfish slime including the protein threads.…”

Section: Mucin Concentration Dependencementioning

confidence: 97%

“…S3, ESI †), pointing to large length scales with the internal structure of mucin being independent of concentration. 33 In Fig. 5 the apparent diffusion coefficient as a function of mucin concentration is summarized.…”

Section: Dynamics and Rheology Of Mucin At Different Concentrationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Structure and dynamics of hagfish mucin in different saline environments

et al. 2019

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Section: Mucin Concentration Dependencesupporting

confidence: 69%

Section: Mucin Concentration Dependencementioning

confidence: 97%

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Structure and dynamics of hagfish mucin in different saline environments

et al. 2019

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“…Velvet worms [ 26 , 27 ] and chameleons [ 28 , 29 ] produce sticky fibers or pads as weapons to bombard their victims, and sea cucumbers ( Holothuria dofleinii ) eject protein-based adhesive fibers (Cuveirian tubules) as an active defense response to attacks [ 30 ]. Similarly, certain hagfishes [ 31 , 32 ] and salamanders [ 33 ] exude a sticky slime to discourage predators. Of course, slimy secretions are not only used to fight other animals: Northern spadefoot toad couples secrete a proteinous glue during mating, and this slime can bind to a wide range of materials including glass, plastics, and even Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE); interestingly, this glue has good sticky properties that are robust towards alterations of its hydration state or changes in the ambient temperature [ 34 ].…”

Section: Naturally Occurring ‘Sticky’ Compounds Originating From Animal and Plant Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bio-based and bio-inspired adhesives from animals and plants for biomedical applications

Lutz

Kımna

Casini

et al. 2022

Materials Today Bio

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With the “many-headed” slime mold Physarum polycelphalum having been voted the unicellular organism of the year 2021 by the German Society of Protozoology, we are reminded that a large part of nature's huge variety of life forms is easily overlooked – both by the general public and researchers alike. Indeed, whereas several animals such as mussels or spiders have already inspired many scientists to create novel materials with glue-like properties, there is much more to discover in the flora and fauna. Here, we provide an overview of naturally occurring slimy substances with adhesive properties and categorize them in terms of the main chemical motifs that convey their stickiness, i.e. , carbohydrate-, protein-, and glycoprotein-based biological glues. Furthermore, we highlight selected recent developments in the area of material design and functionalization that aim at making use of such biological compounds for novel applications in medicine – either by conjugating adhesive motifs found in nature to biological or synthetic macromolecules or by synthetically creating (multi-)functional materials, which combine adhesive properties with additional, problem-specific (and sometimes tunable) features.

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“…While several studies have revealed the mechanical and biochemical aspects [13][14][15][16][17] of slime, little is known about the mechanisms involved in its rapid deployment. More recently, efforts have been made to understand the mechano-chemical aspects of the mucus component, and its swelling and rupture [18,19], but such an approach is yet to be extended to the mechano-chemical processes in the unravelling of skeins.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unravelling hagfish slime

Chaudhary

Ewoldt

Thiffeault

2019

J. R. Soc. Interface.

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Hagfish slime is a unique predator defence material containing a network of long fibrous threads each ∼10 cm in length. Hagfish release the threads in a condensed coiled state known as skeins (∼100 µm), which must unravel within a fraction of a second to thwart a predator attack. Here we consider the hypothesis that viscous hydrodynamics can be responsible for this rapid unravelling, as opposed to chemical reaction kinetics alone. Our main conclusion is that, under reasonable physiological conditions, unravelling due to viscous drag can occur within a few hundred milliseconds, and is accelerated if the skein is pinned at a surface such as the mouth of a predator. We model a single skein unspooling as the fibre peels away due to viscous drag. We capture essential features by considering simplified cases of physiologically relevant flows and one-dimensional scenarios where the fibre is aligned with streamlines in either uniform or uniaxial extensional flow. The peeling resistance is modelled with a power-law dependence on peeling velocity. A dimensionless ratio of viscous drag to peeling resistance appears in the dynamical equations and determines the unraveling time scale. Our modelling approach is general and can be refined with future experimental measurements of peel strength for skein unravelling. It provides key insights into the unravelling process, offers potential answers to lingering questions about slime formation from threads and mucous vesicles, and will aid the growing interest in engineering similar bioinspired material systems.

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Concentration-independent mechanics and structure of hagfish slime

Cited by 13 publications

References 93 publications

Structure and dynamics of hagfish mucin in different saline environments

Structure and dynamics of hagfish mucin in different saline environments

Bio-based and bio-inspired adhesives from animals and plants for biomedical applications

Unravelling hagfish slime

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