Development of bio-adhesives for wet environments from marine mussels

Many sessile marine organisms such as mussels have developed adaptive strategies that allow them to anchor themselves to natural and artificial submarine substrates. They represent a source of non-toxic adhesive biomaterials overcoming the high dielectric and solvation properties of water that typically impede adhesion. The mussels are strongly anchored through a bundle of protein-based threads (byssus), the distal part each thread (adhesive plate) is specialized for adhesion to the substrate and consists of adhesive proteins, a water-resistant glue, generally referred to as "mussel foot proteins" (mfp-2, -3S, -3F, -4, -5 and -6).
Our interest is directed to the development of bio-adhesives, mussel-inspired, that act in wet environment for biomedical applications as wound closure, regenerative medicine and tissue engineering. In particular, we study three proteins of the adhesive plaque of the genus Perna viridis (Pvfp-3alfa, Pvfp-5beta and Pvfp-6). During the adhesion process Pvfp-5beta is the first protein to be secreted during the formation of the adhesive plaque, followed by Pvfp-3alfa and Pvfp-6. Pvfp-5beta is the first to interact with the substratum by displacing the interfacial water molecules before binding to the surface. Studies on the secondary and tertiary structure of mussel adhesion proteins have not been particularly detailed and could provide important information on their broad adhesion capacity.
Our research activity is to produce and purify from E. coli sufficient quantities of the three recombinant proteins Pvfp-3alfa, Pvfp-5beta and Pvfp-6 to study their biophysical and structural properties. In particular, we will study the properties of aggregation, the secondary and tertiary structure, the potential of the three molecules or parts of them as possible "coating" for the adhesion, proliferation and differentiation of different cell types.

Members:
Donatella Bulone
Maria Assunta Costa
Daniela Giacomazza
Rosa Passantino (Principal investigator)
Pier Luigi San Biagio
Radha Santonocito