Amyloid-Based Natural Adhesives and Cements - The Functional Fold: Amyloid Structures in Nature - page 143

functional amyloid fibrils in biological adhesives and cements for
environmental success. This strategy is used by otherwise unrelated
organisms including algae,

14-16 17

a marine invertebrate, and barnacle

21,22

cement. It constitutes the first mechanistic connection identified

between the natural adhesives produced by different organisms
across different environments.

17

Figure 8.6 AFM force data showing sawtooth structures as the tip

approaches the substrate surface through the adhesive and

the corresponding schematic. (a) Sawtooth features in the
approach and retraction curve. Expansions of the sawtooth
regions are shown directly below. A mean persistence length
of 0.08 nm and

2

of 1.07 was recorded for the approach curve
sawtooth peaks, and 0.45 nm for the sawtooth peaks of the
retraction curve. An associated schematic is shown in (b)
where F indicates the direction of the applied force on the fibril
for each expanded curve shown in (a). From A. S. Mostaert and
S. P. Jarvis, Beneficial characteristics of mechanically functional
amyloid fibrils evolutionarily preserved in natural adhesives,
Nanotechnology

χ

, 044010 (2007), reprinted by permission
of the publisher (IOP Publishing Limited). 15 See also Colour
Insert.

, 18