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Enhanced lubrication on tissue and biomaterial surfaces through peptide-mediated binding of hyaluronic acid

Nature Materials volume 13, pages 988–995 (2014)Cite this article

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Abstract

Lubrication is key for the efficient function of devices and tissues with moving surfaces, such as articulating joints, ocular surfaces and the lungs. Indeed, lubrication dysfunction leads to increased friction and degeneration of these systems. Here, we present a polymer–peptide surface coating platform to non-covalently bind hyaluronic acid (HA), a natural lubricant in the body. Tissue surfaces treated with the HA-binding system exhibited higher lubricity values, and in vivo were able to retain HA in the articular joint and to bind ocular tissue surfaces. Biomaterials-mediated strategies that locally bind and concentrate HA could provide physical and biological benefits when used to treat tissue-lubricating dysfunction and to coat medical devices.

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Figure 1: Tissue-surface modification with a HABpep–polymer system.
Figure 2: Single-step strategy for the application of the HABpep–polymer system to a tissue surface, and functional translation to a joint environment.
Figure 3: Cartilage-surface-bound HA through the HABpep–polymer coating system in the absence of an exogenous lubricant can recapitulate the friction coefficients of high-concentration HA lubricants.
Figure 4: Ocular surface application of the HABpep–polymer system.

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Acknowledgements

We thank F. Guilak (Duke University) for helpful discussions on the friction testing. A.S. was supported by the Arthritis Research Foundation Award 5885 and S.A.U. was supported in part by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award AG328232. Funding sources gratefully acknowledged are NIH R01AR054005, DoD-PRORP grant, the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation, the Ort Philanthropic Fund for supporting the rheometer and the Jules Stein Professorship from the Research to Prevent Blindness Foundation. We gratefully acknowledge the Johns Hopkins A.B. Mass Spectrometry/Proteomic Facility for providing access to the matrix-assisted laser-desorption ionization time-of-flight spectrometer, the Johns Hopkins Department of Chemistry Instrumentation Facility for providing access to the peptide synthesizer, and the Johns Hopkins Department of Materials Science and the Fairbrother research group for use of the surface analysis laboratory.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Wilmer Eye Institute and Department of Biomedical Engineering, Translational Tissue Engineering Center, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21287, USA

    Anirudha Singh, Michael Corvelli, Shimon A. Unterman, Peter McDonnell & Jennifer H. Elisseeff

  2. Department of Chemistry, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, USA

    Kevin A. Wepasnick

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  1. Anirudha Singh
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Contributions

The experiments were designed by A.S., M.C., S.A.U., P.M. and J.H.E., and carried out by A.S., M.C., S.A.U. and K.A.W. Data analyses were performed by A.S., M.C. and J.H.E. The manuscript was written by A.S. and J.H.E.

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Correspondence to Jennifer H. Elisseeff.

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Singh, A., Corvelli, M., Unterman, S. et al. Enhanced lubrication on tissue and biomaterial surfaces through peptide-mediated binding of hyaluronic acid. Nature Mater 13, 988–995 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat4048

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