Kang Ziliang, Gomez Johanna A, Ross Alisa MeiShan, Kirtane Ameya R, Zhao Ming, Cai Yubin, Chen Fu Xing, Chen Corona L, Becdach Isaac Diaz, Dey Rajib, Ismael Andrei Russel, Moon Injoo, Yang Yiyuan, Muller Benjamin N, Say Mehmet Girayhan, Pettinari Andrew, Kobrin Jason, Morimoto Joshua, Smierciak Ted, Lopes Aaron, Erdogan Ayten Ebru, Murphy Matt, Fabian Niora, Guevara Ashley, Laidlaw Benedict, Schmidt Kailyn, Hayward Alison M, Techet Alexandra H, Kenaley Christopher P, Traverso Giovanni
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Endoscopy, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Nature. 2025 Jul 23. doi: 10.1038/s41586-025-09304-4.
Achieving long-term underwater adhesion to dynamic, regenerating soft substrates that undergo extreme fluctuations in pH and moisture remains a major unresolved challenge, with far-reaching implications for healthcare, manufacturing, robotics and marine applications. Here, inspired by remoras-fish equipped with specialized adhesive discs-we developed the Mechanical Underwater Soft Adhesion System (MUSAS). Through detailed anatomical, behavioural, physical and biomimetic investigations of remora adhesion on soft substrates, we uncovered the key physical principles and evolutionary adaptations underlying their robust attachment. These insights guided the design of MUSAS, which shows extraordinary versatility, adhering securely to a wide range of soft substrates with varying roughness, stiffness and structural integrity. MUSAS achieves an adhesion-force-to-weight ratio of up to 1,391-fold and maintains performance under extreme pH and moisture conditions. We demonstrate its utility across highly translational models, including in vitro, ex vivo and in vivo settings, enabling applications such as ultraminiaturized aquatic kinetic temperature sensors, non-invasive gastroesophageal reflux monitoring, long-acting antiretroviral drug delivery and messenger RNA administration via the gastrointestinal tract.
实现对动态、再生的软质基底的长期水下粘附，这些基底的pH值和湿度会发生剧烈波动，这仍然是一个重大的未解决挑战，对医疗保健、制造业、机器人技术和海洋应用具有深远影响。在此，受配备特殊吸盘的䲟鱼启发，我们开发了机械水下软粘附系统（MUSAS）。通过对䲟鱼在软质基底上粘附的详细解剖学、行为学、物理学和仿生学研究，我们揭示了其牢固附着背后的关键物理原理和进化适应性。这些见解指导了MUSAS的设计，该系统显示出非凡的通用性，能牢固地粘附在各种具有不同粗糙度、硬度和结构完整性的软质基底上。MUSAS实现了高达1391倍的粘附力与重量比，并在极端pH值和湿度条件下保持性能。我们在包括体外、离体和体内环境等高度可转化模型中展示了其效用，实现了诸如超小型水生动力学温度传感器、非侵入性胃食管反流监测、长效抗逆转录病毒药物递送以及通过胃肠道递送信使核糖核酸等应用。
