A Dual-Bioinspired Tissue Adhesive Based on Peptide Dendrimer with Fast and Strong Wet Adhesion

Although tissue adhesives have potential advantages over traditional sutures, existing ones suffer from several limitations: slow adhesion kinetic, low mechanical strength, and poor interfacial bonding with wet biological tissues. Herein, a cooperative mussel/slug double-bioinspired hydrogel adhesive (DBHA) composed of a robust adhesive interface and a stretchable dissipative matrix is developed. The DBHA is formed by a cationic polysaccharide (chitosan), an anionic polysaccharide (carboxymethyl cellulose), and a barbell-like dendritic lysine grafted with catechol groups (G3KPCA). Compared to various commercial bio-glues and traditional adhesives, the DBHA has significantly stronger tissue adhesion and enhanced toughness both ex vivo and in vivo. Meanwhile, the DBHA exhibits fast, strong, tough, and durable adhesion to diverse ex vivo tissue surfaces with blood. The adhesion energy between the adhesive and porcine skin can reach 200-900 J m(-2). Additionally, in vivo studies prove that DBHA has good hemostasis of rabbit artery trauma and achieves better wound healing of tissue incision than commercial bio-glues. This study provides a novel strategy for fabricating fast and strong wet adhesives, which can be used in many applications, such as soft robots, tissue adhesives and hemostats.

Automated summary

In this study, a double-bioinspired hydrogel adhesive with a strong tissue adhesion and enhanced toughness was developed. The adhesive showed fast, strong, and durable adhesion to wet biological tissues. Compared to commercial bio-glues and traditional adhesives, the adhesive exhibited significantly better tissue adhesion both ex vivo and in vivo.