Mussel adhesive proteins (MAPs) are remarkable underwater adhesive polymers that form tenacious bonds to anchor marine organisms onto the substrates upon which they reside. Even in the presence of water, the adhesive protein plaques form extremely tenacious bonds to solid objects, an accomplishment which is not often matched by synthetic adhesives. Because of these properties as well as many similarities between the marine and physiologic environment, there is great interest in mimicking MAPs in synthetic polymers for use as adhesives in dentistry and medicine. However, these efforts are hampered by a lack of detailed understanding of the molecular mechanism of MAP adhesion. The goals of this research are to employ nano-, micro- and macro-scale adhesion experiments to gain a detailed understanding of the adhesive role of L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA) and other key residues in mussel adhesion, and to use this information to motivate the design of new MAP-inspired macromolecular biomaterials. Single molecule force probe measurements will be performed to investigate the bond forces and energies associated with interaction of DOPA and DOPA-containing peptides with representative implant materials as well as hard and soft tissues. To complement the single molecule experiments, the adhesive strength arising from contact of ensembles of peptides presented at the surfaces of hydrogels with implant materials and tissues will be tested using a fracture micromechanics methodology. Finally, the information obtained from the nano- and micro-scale adhesion experiments will be exploited for rational design of new MAP mimetic polymers. These polymers will be synthesized and tested as hard and soft tissue adhesives using macro-scale lap shear bond strength measurements. This study will provide new insights into the fundamental role of DOPA and other amino acids in biological adhesion, and will generate new adhesive biomaterials for use in soft and hard tissue repair, tissue regeneration, and drug delivery.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Dental & Craniofacial Research (NIDCR)
Type
Method to Extend Research in Time (MERIT) Award (R37)
Project #
5R37DE014193-11
Application #
8277794
Study Section
Musculoskeletal Tissue Engineering Study Section (MTE)
Program Officer
Drummond, James
Project Start
2001-07-01
Project End
2016-06-30
Budget Start
2012-07-01
Budget End
2013-06-30
Support Year
11
Fiscal Year
2012
Total Cost
$364,971
Indirect Cost
$117,471
Name
Northwestern University at Chicago
Department
Biomedical Engineering
Type
Schools of Engineering
DUNS #
160079455
City
Evanston
State
IL
Country
United States
Zip Code
60201
Amin, Devang R; Higginson, Cody J; Korpusik, Angie B et al. (2018) Untemplated Resveratrol-Mediated Polydopamine Nanocapsule Formation. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 10:34792-34801
Huang, Zhuojun; Delparastan, Peyman; Burch, Patrick et al. (2018) Injectable dynamic covalent hydrogels of boronic acid polymers cross-linked by bioactive plant-derived polyphenols. Biomater Sci 6:2487-2495
Ryu, Ji Hyun; Messersmith, Phillip B; Lee, Haeshin (2018) Polydopamine Surface Chemistry: A Decade of Discovery. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 10:7523-7540
Sunoqrot, Suhair; Al-Shalabi, Eveen; Messersmith, Phillip B (2018) Facile synthesis and surface modification of bioinspired nanoparticles from quercetin for drug delivery. Biomater Sci 6:2656-2666
Lopez-Perez, Paula M; da Silva, Ricardo M P; Strehin, Iossif et al. (2017) Self-healing hydrogels formed by complexation between calcium ions and bisphosphonate-functionalized star-shaped polymers. Macromolecules 50:8698-8706
Amin, Devang R; Sugnaux, Caroline; Lau, King Hang Aaron et al. (2017) Size Control and Fluorescence Labeling of Polydopamine Melanin-Mimetic Nanoparticles for Intracellular Imaging. Biomimetics (Basel) 2:
Lee, Kyueui; Park, Eunsook; Lee, Haesung A et al. (2017) Phenolic condensation and facilitation of fluorescent carbon dot formation: a mechanism study. Nanoscale 9:16596-16601
Walsh, Pamela J; Clarke, Susan A; Julius, Matthew et al. (2017) Exploratory Testing of Diatom Silica to Map the Role of Material Attributes on Cell Fate. Sci Rep 7:14138
Zhou, Jiajing; Xiong, Qirong; Ma, Jielin et al. (2016) Polydopamine-Enabled Approach toward Tailored Plasmonic Nanogapped Nanoparticles: From Nanogap Engineering to Multifunctionality. ACS Nano 10:11066-11075
Alves, Diana; Sileika, Tadas; Messersmith, Phillip B et al. (2016) Polydopamine-Mediated Immobilization of Alginate Lyase to Prevent P. aeruginosa Adhesion. Macromol Biosci 16:1301-10

Showing the most recent 10 out of 67 publications