Aspects of Bioadhesion

The joining of substances in wet, salty, biochemically active environments is perforce an event of—at least—water displacement from interfaces. When living cells or tissues are to be intimately mated, or that mating prevented, consideration must be especially given to interaction of the hydrated peripheries of the particles/materials in question.(1) If neither, or only one, of the potentially adherent members easily sheds its bound water layer, prompt practical underwater adhesion is weak to negligible, although it might later become quite secure as excess water is expressed from the joint. Natural mucosal surfaces that resist bioadhesion to most other substances, living or synthetic, provide excellent examples. Witness the inherent resistance to biofouling of the inside of the cheek, the outside of the porpoise and killer whale,(2) and the uncompromised endothelial lining of blood vessels,(3) for instance.