Credit: POSTECH
Mussels survive by sticking to rocks in the fierce waves or tides underwater. Materials mimicking this underwater adhesion are widely used for skin or bone adhesion, for modifying the surface of a scaffold, or even in drug or cell delivery systems. However, these materials have not entirely imitated the capabilities of mussels.
A joint research team from POSTECH and Kangwon National University (KNU) - led by Professor Hyung Joon Cha and Ph.D. candidate Mincheol Shin of the Department of Chemical Engineering at POSTECH with Professor Young Mee Jeong and Dr. Yeonju Park of the Department of Chemistry at KNU - has analyzed Dopa and lysine, which are the amino acids that make up the surface adhesive proteins secreted by mussels, and verified that their roles are related to their location. The team has taken a step closer to revealing the secret of underwater adhesion by uncovering that these amino acids can contribute to surface adhesion and cohesion differently dependi