Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Surface chemistry

Mussel power

Nature Materials volume 7, pages 8–9 (2008)Cite this article

The adhesive proteins secreted by mussels are the inspiration behind a versatile approach to the surface modification of a wide range of inorganic and organic materials, resulting in the fabrication of multifunctional coatings for a variety of applications.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Dopamine is a small-molecule mimic of the adhesive proteins found in the 'footprints' of mussels.
Figure 2: The polymer-coating and secondary treatment processes.

References

  1. Lee, H., Dellatore, S. M., Miller, W. M. & Messersmith, P. B. Science 318, 426–430 (2007).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Zhao, H. & Waite, J. H. J. Biol Chem. 281, 26150–26158 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Kulma, A. & Szopa, J. Plant Science 172, 433–440 (2007).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Lee, H., Scherer, N. F. & Messersmith, P. B. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 103, 12999–13003 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Pezzella, A. et al. J. Org. Chem. 72, 9225–9230 (2007).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Liu, Y. & Simon, J. D. Pigment Cell Res. 16, 72–80 (2003).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. J. Herbert Waite is in the Departments of Molecular Cell & Developmental Biology and Chemistry & Biochemistry, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA. waite@lifesci.ucsb.edu,

    J. Herbert Waite

Authors
  1. J. Herbert Waite
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Waite, J. Mussel power. Nature Mater 7, 8–9 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat2087

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat2087

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing