AsianScientist (Aug. 3, 2015) – One of the most basic yet important surgical skills to keep a patient alive and intact may be closing wounds. A new non-toxic surgical glue that instantly seals a bleeding wound could help doctors do just that. The study describing the mussel-inspired glue has been published in Biomaterials.
Until recently, mechanical fasteners like sutures and staples have accounted for a major portion of conventional medical devices that are used to hold body tissues together. The invasive nature of traditional methods, however, has been the biggest drawback, causing severe tissue damage, complicated post-treatment management and scars. Their use is also limited when handling delicate tissues and internal organs, giving rise to a need for alternatives that do not require penetration.
These days, tissue adhesives have been increasingly pursued as a more desirable bonding material, but the adhesives currently available in the market likewise have their own limitations. While chemically derived adhesives such as cyanoacrylates are likely to provoke an adverse reaction, biologically derived ones are not strong enough to close wounds like sutures do. A common and critical challenge, moreover, is that most surgical glues do not stick in a wet environment, which is essential for medical applications.
Now, a team led by Dr. Cha Hyung Joon, a professor of the Department of Chemical Engineering at Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) has developed a new approach that readily overcomes these drawbacks. Inspired by nature, they developed a light-activated, mussel protein-based bioadhesive (LAMBA) that works on the same principles as mussels attaching to underwater surfaces and insects maintaining structural balance and flexibility.
LAMBA is a promising candidate as an ideal bioadhesive thanks to its outstanding properties: compatibility with the human body, strong adhesiveness in wet conditions, and convenient handling point to the possibility of myriad medical applications.
LAMBA is an upgraded version of previously known mussel-inspired adhesives that copy mussels’ ability to fix their body under water. Instead of producing recombinant mussel adhesive proteins (MAPs) by modifying DOPA, a key element for the adhesive property, Cha and his team have created the new tissue adhesive via a photochemical reaction using blue visible light.
PhD student Ms. Jeon Eun Young was inspired by the dityrosine crosslinks that are often found in dragonfly wings and insect cuticles. When visible light triggers a photo-oxidation reaction in MAPs rich in tyrosine, neighboring tyrosine residues are instantly coupled into dityrosine crosslinks, which in turn enhance structural stability and adhesive properties of the new MAPs in the form of hydrogel.
Animal studies have showed that LAMBA was superior to existing options including sutures and other surgical glues. The new adhesive hydrogel not only closes an open wound on a bleeding site within less than 60 seconds, but also effectively facilitates the healing process without inflammation or a scar.
“LAMBA opens numerous doors for medical practices ranging from blocking air leaks and sutureless wound closures of delicate organs or tissues beyond surgeons’ reach, to hemostatic agent and drug delivery medium, just to name a few,” Cha said.
The article can be found at: Jeon et al. (2015) Rapidly Light-Activated Surgical Protein Glue Inspired by Mussel Adhesion and Insect Structural Crosslinking.
———
Source: Pohang University of Science and Technology.
Disclaimer: This article does not necessarily reflect the views of AsianScientist or its staff.
