Zhong Tianyi, Min Liu, Wang Zhiyuan, Zhang Feng, Zuo Baoqi
College of Textile and Clothing Engineering, Soochow University, National Engineering Laboratory for Modern Silk Suzhou Jiangsu 215000 PR China
Suzhou Sirnaomics Pharmaceuticals Ltd. Biobay Suzhou China.
RSC Adv. 2018 Apr 12;8(25):13806-13812. doi: 10.1039/c8ra01439f. eCollection 2018 Apr 11.
The pedal mucus secreted by many gastropod mollusks, such as terrestrial snails and slugs, plays crucial roles in locomotion, osmoregulation, reproduction, and repulsing predators. In this report, we presented an intriguing example that terrestrial snail can utilize the self-assembly of glycoprotein complex in secreted mucus at the nanoscale to enhance adhesive force on smooth plates. With increasing crawling angle, the structural transformation of pedal mucus was found to involve at least four distinct stages: assembly of nanoparticles, aggregation into microspheres, formation of gels and solidification into fibers. These forming processes were mainly attributed to the unique combination of amino acid composition and chemistry in secreted glycoprotein coupled with the calcium carbonate regulation in pedal gland. Most importantly, we were inspired by these forming process to obtain a novel biomimetic fiber with good extensibility and elasticity from extracted pedal mucus for potential biomedical application.
许多腹足纲软体动物，如陆地蜗牛和蛞蝓分泌的足黏液，在运动、渗透调节、繁殖和驱赶捕食者方面发挥着关键作用。在本报告中，我们展示了一个有趣的例子，即陆地蜗牛可以利用分泌黏液中糖蛋白复合物在纳米尺度上的自组装来增强在光滑平板上的黏附力。随着爬行角度的增加，发现足黏液的结构转变至少涉及四个不同阶段：纳米颗粒组装、聚集成微球、形成凝胶以及固化成纤维。这些形成过程主要归因于分泌糖蛋白中氨基酸组成和化学性质的独特组合，以及足腺中的碳酸钙调节。最重要的是，我们从这些形成过程中获得灵感，从提取的足黏液中制备出一种具有良好延展性和弹性的新型仿生纤维，用于潜在的生物医学应用。
