Protein-based underwater adhesives and the prospects for their biotechnological production

Abstract

Biotechnological approaches to practical production of biological protein-based adhesives have had limited success over the last several decades. Broader efforts to produce recombinant adhesive proteins may have been limited by early disappointments. More recent synthetic polymer approaches have successfully replicated some aspects of natural underwater adhesives. For example, synthetic polymers, inspired by mussels, containing the catecholic functional group of 3,4-L-dihydroxyphenylalanine adhere strongly to wet metal oxide surfaces. Synthetic complex coacervates inspired by the Sandcastle worm are water-borne adhesives that can be delivered underwater without dispersing. Synthetic approaches offer several advantages, including versatile chemistries and scalable production. In the future, more sophisticated mimetic adhesives may combine synthetic copolymers with recombinant or agriculture-derived proteins to better replicate the structural and functional organization of natural adhesives.

Lessons from Sea Organisms to Produce New Biomedical Adhesives

“…In addition, fp-151 showed better adsorption and similar adhesion force, compared to recombinant fp-5, and its adhesive strength (∼0.8 MPa on cowhide, ∼1.1 MPa on aluminum, and ∼1.8 MPa on poly(methyl methacrylate (PMMA) (Plexiglas)) is always largely in excess of that of the commercially available fibrin glue Tisseel. The recombinant fusion proteins, marketed in milligram quantities (Kollodis, Inc), are less expensive than extracted MAPs (Cell-Tak) [10,96]. Recently, fp-151 was successfully produced in insect cells (Table 12.2) [96].…”

“…Recombinant DNA technology has been used in order to obtain large quantities of marine adhesive proteins (see [10,18,52] for review). Attempts to produce recombinant forms of MAPs started in the early 1990s with the expression, production, and purification of complete fp-1 and of synthetic fp-1 protein analogs consisting of 6-20 repeats of the consensus fp-1 decapeptide (Ala-Lys-Pro-Ser-Tyr-Pro-Pro-Thr-Tyr-Lys) in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae or in the bacterium Escherichia coli [25,53].…”

“…Peptide synthesis also allows the direct incorporation of DOPA into the polymers, thus avoiding the complications associated with the oxidation of precursor tyrosine residues [10,14,75]. Water-soluble copolypeptides containing DOPA and Lys residues were prepared by polymerization of α-amino acid N-carboxyanhydride monomers.…”

“…The first attempts to exploit the potentialities of marine glues for medical applications were undertaken in the 1980s. Native barnacle cement was shown to be effective in tests of rabbit bone repair [10]. Adhesive proteins extracted from mussels appeared to be nontoxic and well tolerated by biological systems when used in transplantation experiments in vivo (e.g., corneal transplantation in rabbit; [11]).…”

“…Indeed, the extraction and purification of adhesive proteins directly from the tissues of marine organisms for commercial purposes is feasible but is economically and ecologically problematic. In mussels and barnacles, tens of thousands individuals are needed to obtain 1 g of proteins [8,10,[12][13][14]. A commercial mussel extract, consisting of a mixture of adhesive proteins, is commercially available (Cell-Tak, BD Biosciences) and is sold as an adhesive for the in vitro immobilization of cells and tissue sections on various surfaces, including plastic, glass, metal, and biological materials [6,15,16].…”