Ancestrally high elastic modulus of gecko setal β-keratin

Author:

Peattie Anne M1,Majidi Carmel2,Corder Andrew1,Full Robert J1

Affiliation:

1. Department of Integrative Biology, University of CaliforniaBerkeley, 3060 Valley Life Sciences Building, Berkeley, CA 94720-3140, USA

2. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of CaliforniaBerkeley, 333 Cory Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720-1770, USA

Abstract

Typical bulk adhesives are characterized by soft, tacky materials with elastic moduli well below 1 MPa. Geckos possess subdigital adhesives composed mostly of β-keratin, a relatively stiff material. Biological adhesives like those of geckos have inspired empirical and modelling research which predicts that even stiff materials can be effective adhesives if they take on a fibrillar form. The molecular structure of β-keratin is highly conserved across birds and reptiles, suggesting that material properties of gecko setae should be similar to that of β-keratin previously measured in birds, but this has yet to be established. We used a resonance technique to measure elastic bending modulus in two species of gecko from disparate habitats. We found no significant difference in elastic modulus betweenGekko gecko(1.6 GPa±0.15 s.e.;n=24 setae) andPtyodactylus hasselquistii(1.4 GPa±0.15 s.e.;n=24 setae). If the elastic modulus of setal keratin is conserved across species, it would suggest a design constraint that must be compensated for structurally, and possibly explain the remarkable variation in gecko adhesive morphology.

Publisher

The Royal Society

Subject

Biomedical Engineering,Biochemistry,Biomaterials,Bioengineering,Biophysics,Biotechnology

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