Published in

MDPI, International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 17(23), p. 9987, 2022

DOI: 10.3390/ijms23179987

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Engineering Bio-Adhesives Based on Protein–Polysaccharide Phase Separation

This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

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Abstract

Glue-type bio-adhesives are in high demand for many applications, including hemostasis, wound closure, and integration of bioelectronic devices, due to their injectable ability and in situ adhesion. However, most glue-type bio-adhesives cannot be used for short-term tissue adhesion due to their weak instant cohesion. Here, we show a novel glue-type bio-adhesive based on the phase separation of proteins and polysaccharides by functionalizing polysaccharides with dopa. The bio-adhesive exhibits increased adhesion performance and enhanced phase separation behaviors. Because of the cohesion from phase separation and adhesion from dopa, the bio-adhesive shows excellent instant and long-term adhesion performance for both organic and inorganic substrates. The long-term adhesion strength of the bio-glue on wet tissues reached 1.48 MPa (shear strength), while the interfacial toughness reached ~880 J m−2. Due to the unique phase separation behaviors, the bio-glue can even work normally in aqueous environments. At last, the feasibility of this glue-type bio-adhesive in the adhesion of various visceral tissues in vitro was demonstrated to have excellent biocompatibility. Given the convenience of application, biocompatibility, and robust bio-adhesion, we anticipate the bio-glue may find broad biomedical and clinical applications.