(2) 湿潤環境で作用する高強度生体接着材料の設計と医学応用

抄録

Adhesion in wet biological environments is fundamentally challenging because tissue surfaces are covered with hydration layers that inhibit direct interfacial interactions. Therefore, adhesive materials for surgical applications must achieve strong adhesion under wet environment while maintaining biocompatibility and mechanical compliance. This article reviews recent advances in wet-tolerant adhesives from the perspectives of adhesion mechanisms and integrated material design. Existing strategies are broadly classified into chemical bonding systems and physical interaction-based systems. Chemical bonding systems provide rapid and strong adhesion but may induce cytotoxicity and inflammatory responses, whereas physically interactive systems exhibit high biocompatibility and flexibility but often suffer from limited adhesion strength and durability. Recent developments have focused on integrating multiple mechanisms, including dynamic intermolecular interactions, hydration structure control, and hierarchical structural design, to overcome these tradeoffs. Particular emphasis is placed on our studies using hydrophobically modified Alaska pollock gelatin as a biomaterial platform. By controlling material morphology, including gels, particles, and sheets, distinct adhesion behaviors and functions can be achieved even within the same material system. These findings demonstrate that material morphology is an essential design factor governing wet adhesion and provide new insights into the development of next-generation biomedical adhesives.