Many marine invertebrates produce some form of permanent cement or anchor system for stability in a hazardous environment. These attachment mechanisms must cope with constant fluxes in humidity, temperature, aeration and salinity. It has long been suspected that if scientists could understand the strategies employed by these animals, the knowledge would be directly applicable to the development of an excellent bioadhesive. The polyphenolic protein (ppp) produced by the blue mussel Mytilus edulis is the key to this animal's cement and has been thoroughly characterized at the biochemical level. It can now be produced in quantities sufficient to support an expanded research effort. The long range research goal is to produce a synthetic peptide resembling the decapeptide which comprises 80% of ppp. This will yield a more cost efficient product than the protein extracted from the mussel. In the meantime, direct analyses will be initiated on factors which affect stability of ppp and potential methods of cross-linking, or curing of the protein. All assays will be done under conditions which lead toward the application of this adhesive as a dental cement. Four methods of protein storage will be evaluated; the method which avoids protein oxidation and hydrolysis over a four month period will be used thereafter. Representatives from several groups of chemical curing agents along with the cross-linking agent from the mussel will be evaluated for speed and completeness of the cross-linking reaction. These assays, and the methods developed, can be used later with any synthetic product analyses as well as with the development of more complex formulations.
