Unknown

Dataset Information

0

Iron-clad fibers: a metal-based biological strategy for hard flexible coatings.


ABSTRACT: The extensible byssal threads of marine mussels are shielded from abrasion in wave-swept habitats by an outer cuticle that is largely proteinaceous and approximately fivefold harder than the thread core. Threads from several species exhibit granular cuticles containing a protein that is rich in the catecholic amino acid 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (dopa) as well as inorganic ions, notably Fe3+. Granular cuticles exhibit a remarkable combination of high hardness and high extensibility. We explored byssus cuticle chemistry by means of in situ resonance Raman spectroscopy and demonstrated that the cuticle is a polymeric scaffold stabilized by catecholato-iron chelate complexes having an unusual clustered distribution. Consistent with byssal cuticle chemistry and mechanics, we present a model in which dense cross-linking in the granules provides hardness, whereas the less cross-linked matrix provides extensibility.

SUBMITTER: Harrington MJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3087814 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

altmetric image

Publications

Iron-clad fibers: a metal-based biological strategy for hard flexible coatings.

Harrington Matthew J MJ   Masic Admir A   Holten-Andersen Niels N   Waite J Herbert JH   Fratzl Peter P  

Science (New York, N.Y.) 20100304 5975


The extensible byssal threads of marine mussels are shielded from abrasion in wave-swept habitats by an outer cuticle that is largely proteinaceous and approximately fivefold harder than the thread core. Threads from several species exhibit granular cuticles containing a protein that is rich in the catecholic amino acid 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (dopa) as well as inorganic ions, notably Fe3+. Granular cuticles exhibit a remarkable combination of high hardness and high extensibility. We explored  ...[more]

Similar Datasets

| S-EPMC9109054 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC9050597 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC5765121 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC9965190 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC9565858 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC8880838 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC5511131 | biostudies-other
| S-EPMC4770281 | biostudies-other
| S-EPMC7363815 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC6162281 | biostudies-other