A Biomimetic Glue Protein Modulates Hepatic Gene Expression

Glue protein as secretion from fruit fly larva plays a significant role in metamorphosis as cementing material for pupation sites. However, the biochemical composition of this macromolecule remains obscure. This study takes the advantage of high-resolution proteomic analysis to unveil the protein compositions. A glue protein group is identified as chitin-binding motifs by bioinformatic analysis. Computational modeling analysis of representative proteins illustrates the binding site between protein and chitin. A biosynthetic approach is used to fabricate a glue protein by a modified Escherichia coli recombinant system. The as-biosynthesized biomimetic glue protein is applied as an extracellular matrix to investigate its biocompatibility and functionality. It is found that the purified recombinant protein shows enhanced performance to cellular viability. This finding provides a potential biomacromolecule candidate as an extracellular matrix for cell culture.