Nanofibers and nanoparticles from the insect-capturing adhesive of the Sundew (Drosera) for cell attachment

Abstract

BackgroundThe search for naturally occurring nanocomposites with diverse properties for tissue engineering has been a major interest for biomaterial research. In this study, we investigated a nanofiber and nanoparticle based nanocomposite secreted from an insect-capturing plant, the Sundew, for cell attachment. The adhesive nanocomposite has demonstrated high biocompatibility and is ready to be used with minimal preparation.ResultsAtomic force microscopy (AFM) conducted on the adhesive from three species of Sundew found that a network of nanofibers and nanoparticles with various sizes existed independent of the coated surface. AFM and light microscopy confirmed that the pattern of nanofibers corresponded to Alcian Blue staining for polysaccharide. Transmission electron microscopy identified a low abundance of nanoparticles in different pattern form AFM observations. In addition, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy revealed the presence of Ca, Mg, and Cl, common components of biological salts. Study of the material properties of the adhesive yielded high viscoelasticity from the liquid adhesive, with reduced elasticity observed in the dried adhesive. The ability of PC12 neuron-like cells to attach and grow on the network of nanofibers created from the dried adhesive demonstrated the potential of this network to be used in tissue engineering, and other biomedical applications.ConclusionsThis discovery demonstrates how a naturally occurring nanofiber and nanoparticle based nanocomposite from the adhesive of Sundew can be used for tissue engineering, and opens the possibility for further examination of natural plant adhesives for biomedical applications.

Sundew adhesive: a naturally occurring hydrogel

“…By definition, hydrogels are water-swollen, polymeric and cross-linked networks capable of imbibing and retaining a significant fraction of aqueous phase within their three-dimensional configurations, rather than being dissolved in surrounding water [26,27]. In this respect, as the previous studies have indicated that the fibrous structure of the nano-networks obtained from sundew adhesive consists of polysaccharides [10,11], which are commonly regarded as biopolymers [28,29], and in light of the fact that even though water occupies a proportion of up to 96% rsif.royalsocietypublishing.org J. R. Soc. Interface 12: 20150226 (w/w) in sundew adhesive [1,8], the dissolving rate of sundew adhesive in surrounding aqueous environment is exceedingly slow [8], evidence is sufficient to support the proposed concept that the sundew adhesive is a naturally occurring hydrogel.…”

“…The dispersed distribution of these tiny pores suggests the presence of framework structures in the sundew adhesive, and the water is presumably retained in these three-dimensional architectures. A subsequent study using atomic force microscopy (AFM) verifies the hypothetical framework structures in the sundew adhesive, and further indicates that the nano-network architectures observed in the sundew adhesive are assembled by polysaccharides [10,11]. However, despite the progress made in understanding the structural characteristics of sundew adhesive, it remains elusive as to whether structural traits of the sundew adhesive, especially the morphological features in nanoscale, are associated with the viscoelastic property of this adhesive.…”

“…Apart from that, the nano-network architectures observed in sundew adhesive have been further developed as scaffolds that facilitate the adhesion of both MC3T3-E1 mouse pre-osteoblastic cells and PC12 neuronal cells, and favour the differentiation of PC12 neuronal cells [10,11]. Even though the underlying mechanisms for the enhanced cell adhesion are still unclear, these beneficial properties suggest that sundew adhesive has great potential as an alternative to traditionally synthetic scaffolds for tissue engineering, in particular, for wound healing and therapeutic angiogenesis [10,11].…”

Breeding and Cytogenetic Characterizations of New Hexaploid <i>Drosera</i> Strains Colchicine-Induced from Triploid Hybrid of <i>D. rotundifolia</i> and <i>D. spatulata</i>

“…Three Japanese Drosera species are useful models to study genome organization for the trapping system to capture insects (Dixon et al 1980, Zhang et al 2010, inflammatory effects (Fukushima et al 2009) and complexity of genetic diversity with chromosome evolution (Shirakawa et al 2011). Geographically, D. rotundifolia is distributed across the northern hemisphere, and D. spatulata is distributed mostly in Southeast Asia including parts of Japan and Australia.…”

Biomimetics Image Retrieval Platform

“…Biology [19]: "After applying the adhesive to the substrate, the samples were allowed to dry for 24 hours under a bio-safety cabinet." Medicine [20]: "Adhesion formation is the most common complication following peritoneal surgery and the leading cause of small bowel obstruction, acquired infertility and inadvertent organ injury at reoperation."…”