Congratulations to Yiran Li, Jing Cheng, Peyman Delparastan, and Haoqi Wang on publication of their paper “Molecular Design Principles of Lysine-Dopa Wet Adhesion” in Nature Communications!
The mussel byssus has long been a source of inspiration for the adhesion community. Recently, adhesive synergy between flanking lysine (Lys, K) and 3,4-Dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA, Y) residues in the mussel foot proteins (Mfps) has attracted attention. However, the complex topological relationship of DOPA and Lys as well as the interfacial adhesive roles of other amino acids have been understudied. In this work, we report on a study into the adhesion of a library of DOPA-lysine peptides to organic and inorganic surfaces and demonstrate the effects of spacers for energy dissipation.
Other current or former group members that contributed to this work: Severin J. Sigg and Kelsey G. DeFrates.
Check out this work in Nature Communications:
Molecular design principles of Lysine-DOPA wet adhesion
Nature Communications volume 11, Article number: 3895 (2020)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-17597-4