Bacteria-mimetic bioadhesives with multivalent mucoadhesion and drug-compatible delivery.

Authors

Evan Johnston, Megan Farrow, Ryu Williston, Jing Wu, Zhen Yang, Aram Bahmani, Yin Liu, Xin Huang, Shuaiqi Guo, Jing Yan, Jianyu Li

Published in

Materials horizons. Jul 10, 2026. Epub Jul 10, 2026.

Abstract

The ability to adhere to mucus-lined tissues underpins a range of biomedical devices and therapies. However, many existing strategies rely on covalent bonding chemistries and can be unstable, cytotoxic, or incompatible with therapeutics. Here, we present a bacteria-mimetic bioadhesion strategy inspired by Vibrio cholerae. A short Bap1-derived adhesion peptide is grafted onto chitosan to strengthen mucus interactions through multivalent, cooperative secondary bonding, while preserving pH-triggered interfacial bridging behavior. Bacterial peptide grafting significantly increases adhesion energy on porcine intestine, and when paired with a tough hydrogel matrix achieves adhesion energies >400 J m^-2 without forming covalent bonds to tissue. Confocal imaging reveals deep tissue penetration (∼80 µm) with markedly enhanced mucin binding and no loss of cytocompatibility. Ex vivo intestinal delivery and in vitro drug release tests demonstrate improved drug transport and tissue exposure compared to carbodiimide-mediated covalent bonding strategy. These findings establish a bacteria-mimetic bioadhesion strategy for tissue repair and drug delivery.

PMID:
42430245
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 11 Jul 2026.

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