Biological Adhesion

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Abstract

This chapter describes strategies used in the biological world for adhesion to surfaces under a variety of environmental conditions. The fibrillar attachment systems of geckos and other organisms are representative of strategies operative in dry environments, whereas the adhesive glues secreted by mussels, barnacles, algae, and sandcastle worms are characteristic of wet biological adhesives. Biomimetic polymer strategies motivated by biological adhesives are illustrated, including novel polymer systems that mimic both dry and wet types of biological adhesives. The goal of these efforts is to capture the salient properties of the native systems in synthetic versions intended for consumer, industrial, military, and medical use.

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Carrie E. Brubaker earned her PhD in Biomedical Engineering at Northwestern University, under the advisement of Professor Phillip B. Messersmith. Her research program has explored the development, characterization, and biomedical applications of long-lived and enzyme-degradable mussel-mimetic adhesive hydrogel materials. For these efforts she was awarded an American Chemical Society, Division of Polymeric Materials: Science and Engineering (PMSE) Ford Graduate Student Research Award. Ms. Brubaker was also recognized with the ‘50 for the Future’ Award by the Illinois Technology Foundation. She earned her BS in biochemistry and BA in French and Francophone Studies from the University of California, Los Angeles, in 2004.

Phillip B. Messersmith is a professor of Biomedical Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering and Chemical and Biological Engineering at Northwestern University. He earned his BS degree in life sciences in 1985 and his PhD degree in materials science and engineering in 1993 from the University of Illinois at Urbana. Dr. Messersmith was a postdoctoral fellow at Cornell University from 1993 to 1994 and a faculty member at the University of Illinois at Chicago from 1994 to 1997. His research interests include studies of biological adhesives, including mussel adhesive proteins and gecko adhesives, the design of biomimetic adhesive polymers and polymer composites, development of novel biomaterials for regenerative medicine, and antifouling polymer surfaces. His awards and honors include a young investigator award from the Whitaker Foundation, a MERIT award from the National Institutes of Health, and the Langmuir Lecture Award from the American Chemical Society. Dr. Messersmith is a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering and the Royal Society of Chemistry, and is a member of the editorial/advisory boards of Soft Matter, Nanomedicine, Biointerphases, and Biomedical Materials.

Change History: September 2015. S.N. Aqida expanded text with additional review materials, added Figure 4, added references to the list of references.

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