image: Designer protein containing mammalian low-complexity (LC) domain and mussel adhesive foot protein can form ultra-strong underwater adhesive fibrous coatings on diverse substrates in aqueous solutions across a wide range of pH values. The formation of such strong adhesive coatings benefits from the temporal specification of protein functions resulting from its hierarchical and sequential assembly: the initial liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) process enables surface wetting and adsorption, while subsequent liquid-to-solid maturation promotes amyloid nanofiber formation for strong adhesion.. This material relates to a paper that appeared in the August 23rd, 2019, issue of Science Advances, published by AAAS. The paper, by M. Cui at ShanghaiTech University in Shanghai, China, and colleagues was titled, "Exploiting mammalian low-complexity domains for liquid-liquid phase separation-driven underwater adhesive coatings." view more
Credit: Julie Liu, ShanghaiTech University