Sugar-lectin rich interface between soft tissue and the stiff byssus of Atrina pectinata

Mechanical mismatch between soft tissues and hard implants has been a major obstacle in the bionic devices. Whilst there are many examples of coexistence between soft and hard tissues in living organism, relatively little is known of how to overcome mechanical mismatches occurring at the interface. Among various creatures with the mechanically mismatched biological tissues, Atrina pectinata is a good model system in that the interface with a mechanical mismatch occurs all over the whole body. According to the previous research, the strong interaction between the sugar and lectin was proposed as a strategy to overcome the mechanical mismatch at the interface in Atrina. In this study, the delocalization of various kinds of carbohydrates and lectins at the interface of Atrina was investigated using and histological methods and proteomics. In conclusion, the various types of sugars and lectins were found in the interfacial region of Atrina. Considering the previous results that the binding of sugar and lectin prevents tissue damage, it can be suggested that coupling between various kinds of sugars and lectin would play a major role to overcome a wide range of contact damage.