HAGFISH SLIME: TEXTILE OF THE FUTURE?
Description of the research and findings; Primary Literature Review:
- Hagfish, sometimes incorrectly referred to as eels, are a group of jawless marine animals that thrive in cool, deep marine environments (Ewoldt,2010). This organism has produces a slimey network as a defense mechanism. The material is of interest to scientists because of its unusual properties. The slime is unlike other common mucus secretions in that the "slime mass" is composed of both mucin proteins (globular) and a fibrous protein that belongs the a larger class of proteins known as intermediate filaments (IF's). (Koch, 1994). Rheology test performed on the slime mass reveal that the fiber can respond to stress and become both soft and elastic and then firm when different stress is applied. (See You Tube Video Below for explanation of the rheology test). The two proteins,the globular mucin and and the intermediate filament, interact with water to form a network that is both stiff and elastic, depending on the shearing pressure. (Fudge, 2003). Most intermediate filaments, like keratin, contain a high amount of cysteine and form many disulfide bridges between individual fibers rendering the fibers rigid and stiff. (Fudge, 2010). The IF's present in the Hagfish slime have form few disulfide bridges between individual fibers and are more hydrophillic and interact with the surrounding matrix. This allows the fibers to swell (attach to surrounding water molecules) but also stay attached via the mucin proteins. This allows both strength and softness at the same time. (See Figures below):
Close up view of the Hagfish slime being pulled into fiber using rheometer: (Image: Ewoldt, 2011).
Picture of Hagfish filament responded under different shear pressure/strength. (B = lower pull on fiber; C = double the pull) Notice that the fiber responds differently; thinner and more organized at twice the shearing.
In this figure, a comparison is made between vertebrate keratin IF's and hagfish slime IF's. You can see that the hagfish fibers swell (and are softer) that than vertebrate keratin. This is due to the lack of disulfide bridges in the hagfish IF's do not form disulfide bridges which keep the fibers loose, unlike the tightly cross-linked bridges found hair, nail and hooves of vertebrates.
The following video clip shows the spontaneous uncoiling of the fibers from the hagfish cells when exposed to slight pressure (Image courtesy of Dr. Fudge's Bioinspiration lab):
Finally, this you tube video clip from a NOVA special provides excellent insight regarding the chemistry of the fibers, applications for textile industry and limits to its mass production. In video, the Dr. Negishi, a leading scientist in the field of Hagfish biology, explains the potential benefits and drawbacks of hagfish slime technology and discusses the chemistry of the slime:
- Description of possible bioinspired “product”:
- The following is a list of the bioinspired research currently underway:
- Application Ideas: Quick set insulation, that dehydrates to form a bubble layer. Quick stop of flowing blood or fluids for coagulation. Package theft deterrent system, or damage indication- micro water capsules break forming the slime. Lubrication. (AskNature.org).
- Industrial Sector(s) interested in this strategy: Building, construction, medical, textile (AskNature.org).
- The following is a list of the bioinspired research currently underway:
- Description of 'the problem' the product will solve:
- Because textile manufacturing is one of the largest industries in the world and over two thirds of the material to produce the textiles are derived from petroleum feedstocks, the need for sustainable production of textile feedstock is a problem facing the world today. The hagfish fiber offers a potential solution for a sustainable resource that also offers flexibility in that the fiber's strength can be modified to suit a particular application by altering the matrix surrounding the fiber. Spidersilks once held promise but the production is slow and difficult to meet supply demands. Experiments performed by several groups including Dr. Fudge's Comparitive Biomaterials lab (Fudge, Gills: 2012) and Dr. Negishi at the University of Toronto, have demonstrated that the fiber from the hagfish can be spun at varying pull pressure to create threads stronger than spider thread. (Negishi, 2011). Once the threads are spun, the amount of crosslinking between the fibers can be controlled by the addition of material similar to the mucin in the native hagfish"exudate" to fine-tune the flexibilty, thickness and strenght of the resulting material. (See NOVA You Tube Video above for clips to Negishi's experiments).
- What factors could potentially lead the project forward/inhibit its progress?
- The main issue facing the mass production of this material is biological in nature. Hagfish do not reproduce in captivity. Their natural habitat is deep within the ocean; perhaps their is some signaling factor or material necessary to complete the mating process that is unknown and cannot be recreated in the laboratory. As you can see in the videos above, the hagfish produce SO MUCH SLIME in such a short period of time per animal, but to meet the needs of human society, the animals need to be harbored in large numbers and that simply cannot happen as of last year. Of course, one could harvest every animal in the ocean, but then that of course would lead to environmental collapse. Much research needs to be done on the ecological/animal behavior end before this material can be made available for mass production.
- Is this Biomimetic or Bioinspiration?
- At first shot, I was going to go with biomimetics because the industry is trying to mimic the flexible nature of the slime by being both soft and firm depending on the pressures applied. But then I thought, no, this can't be because they are using materials to form the "matrix" to stimulate cross-linking between the fibers and this is not what occurs in the hagfish slime (there is minimal cross-linking between fibers and occurs mainly with the mucin). So, I truly am stuck on this one..the concept is the same they are just changing on of the materials ...SO..BIOMIMETIC??? :)
- Take a look at the video below..it is short but can give you an idea of HOW FAST AND HOW MUCH material is produced by the hagfish..TRULY A UNIQUE MATERIALS FACTORY!!
Primary Sources:
Ewoldt, Randy H., Timothy M. Winegard, and Douglas S. Fudge. "Non-linear Viscoelasticity of Hagfish Slime." International Journal of Non-Linear Mechanics 46.4 (2011): 627-36.
Fudge, Douglas S., Sonja Hillis, Nimrod Levy, and John M. Gosline. "Hagfish Slime Threads as a Biomimetic Model for High Performance Protein Fibres." Bioinspiration & Biomimetics 5.3 (2010): 035002.
Koch, R . H. Spitzer ,R.B. Pithawalla,D.A.D.Parry. An Unusual Intermediate Filament in Hagfish. Journal of Cell Science 107(1994)3133–3144.
Negishi, Atsuko, Clare L. Armstrong, Laurent Kreplak, Maikel C. Rheinstadter, Loong-Tak Lim, Todd E. Gillis, and Douglas S. Fudge. "The Production of Fibers and Films from Solubilized Hagfish Slime Thread Proteins." Biomacromolecules 13.11 (2012): 3475-4
Other Sources:
Fudge, Dr. Douglas. "Comparative Biomaterials Lab." Welcome!. University of Guelph, n.d. Web. 25 June 2014. <http://www.comparativephys.ca/members/dfudge>.
"HagFish Fiber." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5PGZRxhAyU 25 June 2014.
Hagfish Slime Video from NOVA:"HagFish Fiber." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 25 June 2014.
EXCELLENT..USE THIS ONEhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCMjfjUFPMQ
Maki. "Hagfish." Sci-ence.org. N.p., 11 Aug. 2011. Web. 25 June 2014
Martini, Frederic. "Secrets of the Slime Hag." Scientific American (1998): 70-75. Web. 24 June 2014.
Jørgensen, J. P., Lomholt, R. E. Weber and H. Malte. THe Biology of Hagfishes. Chapman & Hall, 1998. PRINT
"Slime and Fibers Protect: Hagfish." AskNature.org. The Biomimicry 3.8 Institute, 2014. Web. 25 June 2014. <http%3A%2F%2Fwww.asknature.org%2Fstrategy%2F405070c950ff1a6e25de46b0416cf3c1%23.U6xeNKip2TI>.
Ewoldt, Randy H., Timothy M. Winegard, and Douglas S. Fudge. "Non-linear Viscoelasticity of Hagfish Slime." International Journal of Non-Linear Mechanics 46.4 (2011): 627-36.
Fudge, Douglas S., Sonja Hillis, Nimrod Levy, and John M. Gosline. "Hagfish Slime Threads as a Biomimetic Model for High Performance Protein Fibres." Bioinspiration & Biomimetics 5.3 (2010): 035002.
Koch, R . H. Spitzer ,R.B. Pithawalla,D.A.D.Parry. An Unusual Intermediate Filament in Hagfish. Journal of Cell Science 107(1994)3133–3144.
Negishi, Atsuko, Clare L. Armstrong, Laurent Kreplak, Maikel C. Rheinstadter, Loong-Tak Lim, Todd E. Gillis, and Douglas S. Fudge. "The Production of Fibers and Films from Solubilized Hagfish Slime Thread Proteins." Biomacromolecules 13.11 (2012): 3475-4
Other Sources:
Fudge, Dr. Douglas. "Comparative Biomaterials Lab." Welcome!. University of Guelph, n.d. Web. 25 June 2014. <http://www.comparativephys.ca/members/dfudge>.
"HagFish Fiber." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5PGZRxhAyU 25 June 2014.
Hagfish Slime Video from NOVA:"HagFish Fiber." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 25 June 2014.
EXCELLENT..USE THIS ONEhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCMjfjUFPMQ
Maki. "Hagfish." Sci-ence.org. N.p., 11 Aug. 2011. Web. 25 June 2014
Martini, Frederic. "Secrets of the Slime Hag." Scientific American (1998): 70-75. Web. 24 June 2014.
Jørgensen, J. P., Lomholt, R. E. Weber and H. Malte. THe Biology of Hagfishes. Chapman & Hall, 1998. PRINT
"Slime and Fibers Protect: Hagfish." AskNature.org. The Biomimicry 3.8 Institute, 2014. Web. 25 June 2014. <http%3A%2F%2Fwww.asknature.org%2Fstrategy%2F405070c950ff1a6e25de46b0416cf3c1%23.U6xeNKip2TI>.