Novel extracellular matrix mimics based on mussel adhesive protein fused with biofunctional peptides

Abstract

Mussel adhesive protein (MAP) fp-151 designed and constructed by our research laboratory has the potential to be used as a cell or tissue bioadhesive at various cell lines in biocompatible aspect. To improve the cell-adhesion and proliferation properties of fp151, we designed an extracellular matrix (ECM) mimics based on mussel adhesive protein fused with biofunctional peptides such as RGD, laminin, type Ⅳ collagen, growth factor called substance P, which is fused at Cterminus of fp151. The ability of adhesion and proliferation properties is tested in several cell lines by direct cell count (DCC) method and MTT assay. Our ECM mimics showed better or similar adhesion and proliferation properties compared with other commercially produced cell-adhesion materials such as poly-L-lysine (PLL) and the naturally extracted MAP mixture Cell-Tak in MC3T3-E1, ATDC5 and 3T3-L1 cells. These data showed that these mimics can be successfully used in cell culture and tissue engineering and extended to other tissuespecific cell recognition motifs to allow attachment of target cells to artificial ECM surfaces.