Figure 10.
Schematic illustration of mussel adhesive protein mimetic polymer systems. The red circles represent Dopa or a catechol mimic of Dopa covalently coupled to polymer chain ends or as side chains of polymerizable catechol monomers. The polymer backbone is linear or branched and is conceivably of any composition but most commonly consists of polypeptides, poly(ethylene glycol), poly(acrylate/methacrylate), or poly(acrylamide/methacrylamide).