Marine adhesive protein

Organisms like mussels and barnacles secrete marine adhesive proteins which insolubilize and gives them the ability to attach to various substrates in a watery environment. One of the main characteristics of marine Bioadhesive is their ability to polymerize very quickly in water (within a few minutes), and with a large scale of strengths.^[1][2]

Biofouling, can be defined as the adhesion and subsequent growth of organisms on a substrate in an aquatic environment. It can be observed at any substrate, whether organic or inorganic, biotic abiotic, soft or hard. Settlement on a substrate is a strategy used by aquatic organisms to ensure survival, feeding, a high rate of reproduction, etc.^[1]

In order to adhere to a substrate, organisms can use chemical strategies which involve the synthesis and use of bioadhesive polymers, which are usually mostly composed of a mix of proteins and polysaccharides.

However, inorganic components can sometimes predominate, e.g. representing 86% of adhesive from reef building oysters. Lipids can also be produced, as observed in barnacle larvae, and play a role in the conditioning of the substrate prior to adhesive secretion.^[1]

In the bioadhesives field, 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (Dopa), a post-translationally modified amino acid, has been found in Mussel adhesive proteins, which has lead to research in Dopa-incorporated proteins, carbohydrates, synthetic polymers with the aim of replicating the ability of organisms to attach to wet surfaces in nature.^[3]

The presence of multiple consecutive epidermal growth factor(EGF)/EGF-like domains has been identified to be a common feature of marine adhesives; such domains were first observed in mussel-derived proteins 40 years ago and subsequently observed in the biological adhesives of many marine fouling organisms, including limpets, sea urchins and seastars and sea anemones.^[3]