Calcium tunes snail mucus-based materials to multiple functions

Mucus is known as a viscous fluid; yet, snails manufacture various mucus-based materials with much higher cohesion and tailored to different and even antagonistic functions, including lubrication, adhesion, protection, and defense. To gain insight into this versatility, we use a multidisciplinary approach to investigate five different mucus-based materials produced by the snail Cepaea nemoralis. Our results demonstrate that snails use collagen VI as a main structural component and add amorphous calcium carbonate (ACC) during mucus secretion. ACC functions as an ion source in wet mucus types, most likely for cross-linking, or as a mineral precursor in dry mucus types. These findings shed light on the versatility of these viscoelastic materials, which are able to switch between very different properties on the basis of calcium and protein content.