title: Surface properties of mussel adhesive protein component films.
abstract: Mussel adhesive protein (MAP) is the adhesive agent used by the blue sea mussel (Mytilus edulis) to attach the animal to various underwater surfaces. It is composed of 75-->85 repeating decameric units with the reported primary sequence NH2-A(1)-K(2)-P(3)-S(4)-Y(5)-Hyp(6)-Hyp(7)-T(8)-DOPA(9)-K(10)-COOH. This study identifies and compares the surface properties of the decameric unit, selected fragments and individual amino acid constituents with the complete MAP preparation. These molecular systems were examined: (a) in the solid state as thin films formed on germanium substrata using multiple-attenuated-internal-reflectance infrared (MAIR-IR) spectroscopy, ellipsometry and contact angle analysis; and (b) in the solution state using circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy. Extensive molecular modelling of the decamer was performed making integral use of the experimentally derived data. These cumulative semi-empirical and empirical results suggest a conformation for the decamer that closely associates the L-DOPA and tyrosine residues with the solid substratum. This model provides the first representation of MAP derived from a rational integration of theoretical and experimental data. On the basis of this model, a possible explanation for the bioadhesive properties of MAP is suggested.
authors: Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Biophysics Department, Buffalo, NY 14263.
authors: M P
authors: MP
authors: Olivieri
authors: R E
authors: RE
authors: Baier
authors: R E
authors: RE
authors: Loomis
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D049872:Bivalvia; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000737:chemistry; D011487:Protein Conformation; D011506:Proteins / Q000737:chemistry*; D013055:Spectrophotometry, Infrared; D013499:Surface Properties
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D011506:Proteins; C037403:adhesive protein, mussel