CSIC researchers develop a water-soluble adhesive with healthcare applications
- The work, which is part of an international project co-led by the INMA, is inspired by the proteins used by mussels to attach themselves to marine rocks.
- The satisfactory results of laboratory tests on pig skin demonstrate its potential use as a surgical glue to replace more invasive sutures.
The mussel has its own glue to cling to rocks / Pixabay
La extraordinaria capacidad de los mejillones para fijarse a las rocas en un ambiente acuático durante largos periodos de tiempo ha servido de inspiración para un grupo de científicos, que ha logrado desarrollar un adhesivo soluble en agua, lo que limita su impacto medioambiental y con potenciales aplicaciones sanitarias.
The extraordinary ability of mussels to attach themselves to rocks in an aquatic environment for long periods of time has inspired a group of scientists to develop a water-soluble adhesive reducing its environmental impact and with potential healthcare applications. The prestigious scientific journal Advanced Functional Materials has recently published these results, the fruit of an international project co-led by the Aragon Nanoscience and Materials Institute (INMA-CSIC-UNIZAR), a joint centre of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and the University of Zaragoza (UNIZAR).
The main objective of the work was to develop new biomimetic adhesives (i.e. synthetic materials reproduced in the laboratory that mimic physical or chemical structures found in nature) for applications in medicine as a surgical glue to replace more invasive suturing procedures, thereby improving patient healing and minimising the risk of infection.
‘Tests were able to glue pig skin with a strength similar to that of Tisseel, a commercial surgical adhesive. These results are also relevant for creating commonly used but more sustainable adhesives, as using water as a dispersing medium instead of chemical solvents is less toxic and pollutes less,’ says Alexandre Lancelot, INMA researcher and first author of the paper, before highlighting the difficulties encountered in bonding biological tissues. ‘It’s difficult for adhesives to work because it’s an aqueous environment,’ he adds.
Lancelot explains that, to attach to rocks, mussels use proteins containing the amino acid L-DOPA, where the catechol group, a chemical molecule, is mainly responsible for adhesion. ‘Imitating the structures of these proteins, we have joined the catechol group with other polymers, obtaining an adhesive with a satisfactory behaviour on aluminium,’ says the scientist, who belongs to the group Liquid Crystals and Polymers (CLIP) of INMA, led by CSIC researcher Teresa Sierra. ‘We are already working on further advances to be able to register a patent,’ says Lancelot.
The researcher stresses that this work has been carried out in collaboration with Professor Jonathan Wilker, from Purdue University (USA), and funded by the European Union through a Marie Skłodowska-Curie research grant.
Alexandre Lancelot, Mitchell E. Meger, Enrique Guerreiro Gómez, Teresa Sierra, Jonathan J. Wilker. Adhesion of Catechol-Functionalized Linear-Dendritic Block Copolymers: Dendritic Effect, Self-Assembly, and Bioadhesion. Advanced Functional Materials. DOI: 10.1002/adfm.202413398.
15th Nov. 2024
