Böcker Lukas, Rühs Patrick A, Böni Lukas, Fischer Peter, Kuster Simon
Institute of Food, Nutrition and Health, ETH Zurich, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland.
ACS Biomater Sci Eng. 2016 Jan 11;2(1):90-95. doi: 10.1021/acsbiomaterials.5b00404. Epub 2015 Nov 25.
Hagfish slime, a remarkable soft and elastic hydrogel, is formed by hagfish as a defense mechanism against predation. The extremely fast slime formation, the high water content, and protein threads up to 30 cm in length make it a promising material for the development of hydrogels with embedded fibers. However, under environmental conditions, i.e., in agitation in seawater, the slime collapses. To address the limited structural stability but use the potential of the protein threads as a backbone in fiber enforced materials, we generated composite structures of hagfish slime with biopolymers. Hagfish slime mixed with chitosan reveals that the slime's mucin fraction has a negative charge due to strong aggregation of both components. The gels formed by κ-carrageenan and starch show synergistic effects by exhibiting high values of water content, elasticity, and viscosity. We demonstrated that in combination with negatively charged biopolymers, fiber enforced hydrogels can be formed. This fiber enforced material has a pronounced cohesiveness and stability, thus combining both properties of biopolymers and hagfish slime.
盲鳗黏液是一种非凡的柔软且有弹性的水凝胶，由盲鳗形成，作为一种抵御捕食的防御机制。其黏液形成速度极快、含水量高，且蛋白质丝长达30厘米，这使其成为开发含嵌入式纤维水凝胶的理想材料。然而，在环境条件下，即在海水中搅拌时，黏液会坍塌。为了解决结构稳定性有限的问题，但又利用蛋白质丝作为纤维增强材料骨架的潜力，我们制备了盲鳗黏液与生物聚合物的复合结构。将盲鳗黏液与壳聚糖混合后发现，由于两种成分的强烈聚集，黏液中的黏蛋白部分带负电荷。由κ-卡拉胶和淀粉形成的凝胶通过展现出高含水量、弹性和粘度而呈现协同效应。我们证明，与带负电荷的生物聚合物结合，可以形成纤维增强水凝胶。这种纤维增强材料具有显著的内聚性和稳定性，从而兼具生物聚合物和盲鳗黏液的特性。
