Choi Jimin, Lee Seunghyeon, Lee Yongjin, Hwang Dong Soo
Division of Environmental Science and Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang, South Korea.
Institute of Chemical Process, Seoul National University, Gwanak-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Nat Commun. 2025 Jan 2;16(1):233. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-55476-4.
Marine and terrestrial organisms often utilise EGF/EGF-like domains in wet adhesives, yet their roles in adhesion remain unclear. Here, we investigate the Barbatia virescense byssal system and uncover an oxidation-independent, reversible, and robust adhesion mechanism where EGF/EGF-like domain tandem repetitions in adhesive proteins bind robustly to GlcNAc-based biopolymer. EGF/EGF-like-domain-containing proteins demonstrate over three-fold superior underwater adhesion to chitosan compared to the well-known strongest wet-adhesive proteins, mefp-5, and suckerin, when adhering to mica in an surface forces apparatus-based measurement. Additionally, as the degree of acetylation of chitosan decreases from 20.0 to 5.34%, the underwater adhesion energy between mefp-2 and chitosan decreases from |Wad | ≈ 41.80 to 12.92 ± 0.40 mJm. This finding highlights the importance of GlcNAc over GlcN in binding with EGF to formulate effective underwater adhesives, expanding our understanding of underwater adhesion and supporting EGF's functional role in biomedical wet adhesive interfaces, hydrogels, and chitosan applications.
海洋生物和陆地生物常常在湿性黏附中利用表皮生长因子（EGF）/ EGF样结构域，但其在黏附中的作用仍不清楚。在此，我们研究了翡翠贻贝的足丝系统，发现了一种不依赖氧化、可逆且强大的黏附机制，即黏附蛋白中的EGF / EGF样结构域串联重复序列能与基于N-乙酰葡糖胺（GlcNAc）的生物聚合物牢固结合。在基于表面力仪的测量中，当与云母黏附时，含EGF / EGF样结构域的蛋白质与壳聚糖的水下黏附力比已知最强的湿性黏附蛋白mefp - 5和吸盘蛋白高出三倍以上。此外，随着壳聚糖乙酰化程度从20.0%降至5.34%，mefp - 2与壳聚糖之间的水下黏附能从| Wad |≈41.80降至12.92±0.40 mJ/m²。这一发现凸显了N - 乙酰葡糖胺相对于葡糖胺（GlcN）在与EGF结合以形成有效的水下黏附剂方面的重要性，拓展了我们对水下黏附的理解，并支持了EGF在生物医学湿性黏附界面、水凝胶和壳聚糖应用中的功能作用。
