skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Surface force measurements and simulations of mussel-derived peptide adhesives on wet organic surfaces

Journal Article · · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [2];  [4];  [5];  [5];  [6];  [7];  [1]
  1. Univ. of California, Santa Barbara, CA (United States). Dept. of Physics. Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry
  2. Univ. of California, Santa Barbara, CA (United States). Dept. of Chemical Engineering
  3. Univ. of California, Santa Barbara, CA (United States). Materials Research Lab.
  4. Rowan Univ., Glassboro, NJ (United States). Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry
  5. Lehigh Univ., Bethlehem, PA (United States). Dept. of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
  6. Univ. of California, Santa Barbara, CA (United States). Materials Research Lab. Dept. of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology
  7. Univ. of California, Santa Barbara, CA (United States). Dept. of Chemical Engineering. Materials Research Lab.

Translating sticky biological molecules—such as mussel foot proteins (MFPs)—into synthetic, cost-effective underwater adhesives with adjustable nano- and macroscale characteristics requires an intimate understanding of the glue’s molecular interactions. In this paper, to help facilitate the next generation of aqueous adhesives, we performed a combination of surface forces apparatus (SFA) measurements and replica-exchange molecular dynamics (REMD) simulations on a synthetic, easy to prepare, Dopa-containing peptide (MFP-3s peptide), which adheres to organic surfaces just as effectively as its wild-type protein analog. Experiments and simulations both show significant differences in peptide adsorption on CH3-terminated (hydrophobic) and OH-terminated (hydrophilic) self-assembled monolayers (SAMs), where adsorption is strongest on hydrophobic SAMs because of orientationally specific interactions with Dopa. Finally, additional umbrella-sampling simulations yield free-energy profiles that quantitatively agree with SFA measurements and are used to extract the adhesive properties of individual amino acids within the context of MFP-3s peptide adhesion, revealing a delicate balance between van der Waals, hydrophobic, and electrostatic forces.

Research Organization:
Lehigh Univ., Bethlehem, PA (United States); Univ. of California, Santa Barbara, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); National Science Foundation (NSF); National Inst. of Health (NIH) (United States)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0013979; MCB-1158577; DMR 1121053; CNS-0960316; ACI-1053575; R01 DE018468
OSTI ID:
1469313
Journal Information:
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol. 113, Issue 16; ISSN 0027-8424
Publisher:
National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC (United States)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 69 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (52)

Spontaneous drying of non-polar deep-cavity cavitand pockets in aqueous solution journal May 2020
Are Protein Force Fields Getting Better? A Systematic Benchmark on 524 Diverse NMR Measurements journal March 2012
GROMACS 4:  Algorithms for Highly Efficient, Load-Balanced, and Scalable Molecular Simulation journal February 2008
Adaptive synergy between catechol and lysine promotes wet adhesion by surface salt displacement journal August 2015
Titanium alloys in total joint replacement—a materials science perspective journal September 1998
Self-Healing Mussel-Inspired Multi-pH-Responsive Hydrogels journal January 2013
Extension to the weighted histogram analysis method: combining umbrella sampling with free energy calculations journal March 2001
Fusion of Seashell Nacre and Marine Bioadhesive Analogs: High-Strength Nanocomposite by Layer-by-Layer Assembly of Clay andL-3,4-Dihydroxyphenylalanine Polymer journal April 2007
Catechol and HCl Adsorption on TiO 2 (110) in Vacuum and at the Water–TiO 2 Interface journal June 2015
Comparison of simple potential functions for simulating liquid water journal July 1983
Adhesion mechanisms of the mussel foot proteins mfp-1 and mfp-3 journal February 2007
Adaptive hydrophobic and hydrophilic interactions of mussel foot proteins with organic thin films journal September 2013
Replica-exchange molecular dynamics method for protein folding journal November 1999
Biocompatibility of adhesive complex coacervates modeled after the sandcastle glue of Phragmatopoma californica for craniofacial reconstruction journal December 2010
Development and testing of a general amber force field journal January 2004
Molecular mechanics of mussel adhesion proteins journal January 2014
Mussel-Inspired Adhesives and Coatings journal August 2011
NADPH levels affect cellular epigenetic state by inhibiting HDAC3–Ncor complex journal January 2021
Adhesion of Mussel Foot Protein Mefp-5 to Mica: An Underwater Superglue journal August 2012
Molecular mechanics of dihydroxyphenylalanine at a silica interface journal August 2012
Mussel-Inspired Surface Chemistry for Multifunctional Coatings journal October 2007
Trp-Cage Folding on Organic Surfaces journal August 2015
Surface Energy and the Contact of Elastic Solids
  • Johnson, K. L.; Kendall, K.; Roberts, A. D.
  • Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, Vol. 324, Issue 1558 https://doi.org/10.1098/rspa.1971.0141
journal September 1971
Large Area, Molecularly Smooth (0.2 nm rms) Gold Films for Surface Forces and Other Studies journal July 2007
Impact tolerance in mussel thread networks by heterogeneous material distribution journal July 2013
A well-behaved electrostatic potential based method using charge restraints for deriving atomic charges: the RESP model journal October 1993
Τhe β-Peptide Hairpin in Solution:  Conformational Study of a β-Hexapeptide in Methanol by NMR Spectroscopy and MD Simulation journal March 2001
Biomimetic Underwater Adhesives with Environmentally Triggered Setting Mechanisms journal February 2010
Mussel-Inspired Encapsulation and Functionalization of Individual Yeast Cells journal March 2011
Characterizing hydrophobicity of interfaces by using cavity formation, solute binding, and water correlations journal August 2009
Tuning heterogeneous poly(dopamine) structures and mechanics: in silico covalent cross-linking and thin film nanoindentation journal January 2014
Canonical sampling through velocity rescaling journal January 2007
Interfacial Structure of a DOPA-Inspired Adhesive Polymer Studied by Sum Frequency Generation Vibrational Spectroscopy journal May 2013
Recent advances in the surface forces apparatus (SFA) technique journal January 2010
Molecular dynamics with coupling to an external bath journal October 1984
Dictionary of protein secondary structure: Pattern recognition of hydrogen-bonded and geometrical features journal December 1983
Asymmetric Electrostatic and Hydrophobic–Hydrophilic Interaction Forces between Mica Surfaces and Silicone Polymer Thin Films journal October 2013
Bridging Adhesion of Mussel-Inspired Peptides: Role of Charge, Chain Length, and Surface Type journal July 2014
LINCS: A linear constraint solver for molecular simulations journal September 1997
Mussel-Inspired Polydopamine Coating as a Universal Route to Hydroxyapatite Crystallization journal May 2010
Disorder in Cholesterol-Binding Functionality of CRAC Peptides: A Molecular Dynamics Study journal November 2014
A mussel-derived one component adhesive coacervate journal April 2014
Mussel protein adhesion depends on interprotein thiol-mediated redox modulation journal July 2011
Surface-initiated self-healing of polymers in aqueous media journal July 2014
Canonical dynamics: Equilibrium phase-space distributions journal March 1985
Settle: An analytical version of the SHAKE and RATTLE algorithm for rigid water models journal October 1992
Painting blood vessels and atherosclerotic plaques with an adhesive drug depot journal December 2012
A smooth particle mesh Ewald method journal November 1995
Bioinspired catecholic chemistry for surface modification journal January 2011
VMD: Visual molecular dynamics journal February 1996
Thin film studies using multiple-beam interferometry journal August 1973
LINCS: A linear constraint solver for molecular simulations journal September 1997

Cited By (12)

Bioinspired Multiscale Wet Adhesive Surfaces: Structures and Controlled Adhesion journal November 2019
Computational discovery of chemically patterned surfaces that effect unique hydration water dynamics journal July 2018
The physico-chemistry of adhesions of protein resistant and weak polyelectrolyte brushes to cells and tissues journal January 2020
Die chemischen Grundlagen der Adhäsion von Catechol journal October 2018
Morphology of soft and rough contact via fluid drainage journal January 2018
Functional Polymeric Materials Inspired by Geckos, Mussels, and Spider Silk journal July 2018
Probing molecular mechanisms of M13 bacteriophage adhesion journal August 2019
Adsorption mechanism of mussel-derived adhesive proteins onto various self-assembled monolayers journal January 2017
Biomimetic Surface Engineering of Biomaterials by Using Recombinant Mussel Adhesive Proteins journal March 2018
Direct Observation of the Interplay of Catechol Binding and Polymer Hydrophobicity in a Mussel-Inspired Elastomeric Adhesive journal October 2018
Computer simulations of underwater oil adhesion of self-assembled monolayers on Au (111) journal July 2018
The Chemistry behind Catechol-Based Adhesion journal October 2018