Mussel-Based Biomimetic Strategies in Musculoskeletal Disorder Treatment: From Synthesis Principles to Diverse Applications

Yajie Yu,1– 3,* Bin Lv,1,* Juntao Wu,1 Wei Chen2,3 1Department of Orthopaedics, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Pharmacology, School of Basic Medicine, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030, People’s Republic of China; 3Hubei Key Laboratory for Drug Target Researches and Pharmacodynamic Evaluation, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Wei Chen, Email weichen86@hust.edu.cnAbstract: Musculoskeletal disorders are the second leading cause of disability worldwide, posing a huge global burden to the public sanitation system. Currently, tissue engineering-based approaches act as effective strategies, which are, however, challenging in limited application scenarios. Mussel-based biomimetic materials, exhibit numerous unique properties such as intense adhesion, biocompatibility, moisture resistance, and injectability, to name only a few, and have attracted extensive research interest. In particular, featuring state-of-the-art properties, mussel-inspired biomaterials have been widely explored in innumerable musculoskeletal disorder treatments including osteochondral defects, osteosarcoma, osteoarthritis, ligament rupture, and osteoporosis. Nevertheless, a comprehensive and timely discussion of their applications in musculoskeletal disorders is insufficient. In this review, we emphasize on (1) the main categories and characteristics of mussel foot proteins and their fundamental mechanisms for the spectacular adhesion in mussels; (2) the diverse synthetic methods and modification of various polymers; and (3) the emerging applications of mussel-biomimetic materials, the future perspectives, and challenges, especially in the area of musculoskeletal disorder. We envision that this review