Effect of Cross-Linkers on Mussel- and Elastin-Inspired Adhesives on Physiological Substrates

Surgical adhesives can be useful in wound closure because they reduce the risk of infection and pain associated with sutures and staples. However, there are no commercially available surgical adhesives for soft tissue wound closure. To be effective, soft tissue adhesives must be soft and flexible, strongly cohesive and adhesive, biocompatible, and effective in a moist environment. To address these criteria, we draw inspiration from the elasticity and resilience of elastin proteins and the adhesive of marine mussels. We used an elastin-like polypeptide (ELP) for the backbone of our adhesive material due to its elasticity and biocompatibility. A mussel-inspired adhesive molecule, L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA), was incorporated into the adhesive to confer wet-setting adhesion. In this study, an ELP named YKV was designed to include tyrosine residues and lysine residues, which contain amine groups. A modified version of YKV, named mYKV, was created through enzymatic conversion of tyrosine residues into DOPA. The ELPs were combined with iron(III) nitrate, sodium periodate, and/or tris(hydroxymethyl)phosphine (THP) cross-linkers to investigate the effect of DOPA- and amine-based cross-linking on adhesion strength and cure time on porcine skin in a warm, humid environment. Incorporation of DOPA into the ELP increased adhesive strength by 2.5 times and reduced failure rates. Iron cross-linkers improved adhesion in the presence of DOPA. THP increased adhesion for all proteins tested even in the absence of DOPA. Using multiple cross-linkers in a single formulation did not significantly improve adhesion. The adhesives with the highest performance (iron nitrate mixed with mYKV and THP mixed with YKV or mYKV) on porcine skin had 10-18 times higher adhesion than a commercial sealant and reached appreciable adhesive strength within 10 min.