Dataset Information

Biological responses to spider silk-antibiotic fusion protein.

ABSTRACT: The development of a new generation of multifunctional biomaterials is a continual goal for the field of materials science. The in vivo functional behaviour of a new fusion protein that combines the mechanical properties of spider silk with the antimicrobial properties of hepcidin was addressed in this study. This new chimeric protein, termed 6mer + hepcidin, fuses spider dragline consensus sequences (6mer) and the antimicrobial peptide hepcidin, as we have recently described, with retention of bactericidal activity and low cytotoxicity. In the present study, mouse subcutaneous implants were studied to access the in vivo biological response to 6mer + hepcidin, which were compared with controls of silk alone (6mer), polylactic-glycolic acid (PLGA) films and empty defects. Along with visual observations, flow cytometry and histology analyses were used to determine the number and type of inflammatory cells at the implantation site. The results show a mild to low inflammatory reaction to the implanted materials and no apparent differences between the 6mer + hepcidin films and the other experimental controls, demonstrating that the new fusion protein has good in vivo biocompatibility, while maintaining antibiotic function.

SUBMITTER: Gomes S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3335770 | biostudies-literature | 2012 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Biological responses to spider silk-antibiotic fusion protein.

Gomes Sílvia S Gallego-Llamas Jabier J Leonor Isabel B IB Mano João F JF Reis Rui L RL Kaplan David L DL

Journal of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine 20110629 5

The development of a new generation of multifunctional biomaterials is a continual goal for the field of materials science. The in vivo functional behaviour of a new fusion protein that combines the mechanical properties of spider silk with the antimicrobial properties of hepcidin was addressed in this study. This new chimeric protein, termed 6mer + hepcidin, fuses spider dragline consensus sequences (6mer) and the antimicrobial peptide hepcidin, as we have recently described, with retention of ...[more]

PMID: 22514077

Similar Datasets

Project description:BACKGROUND: It is energetically expensive to synthesize certain amino acids. The proteins (spidroins) of spider major ampullate (MA) silk, MaSp1 and MaSp2, differ in amino acid composition. Glutamine and proline are prevalent in MaSp2 and are expensive to synthesize. Since most orb web spiders express high proline silk they might preferentially attain the amino acids needed for silk from food and shift toward expressing more MaSp1 in their MA silk when starved. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We fed three spiders; Argiope aetherea, Cyrtophora moluccensis and Leucauge blanda, high protein, low protein or no protein solutions. A. aetherea and L. blanda MA silks are high in proline, while C. moluccesnsis MA silks are low in proline. After 10 days of feeding we determined the amino acid compositions and mechanical properties of each species' MA silk and compared them between species and treatments with pre-treatment samples, accounting for ancestry. We found that the proline and glutamine of A. aetherea and L. blanda silks were affected by protein intake; significantly decreasing under the low and no protein intake treatments. Glutmaine composition in C. moluccensis silk was likewise affected by protein intake. However, the composition of proline in their MA silk was not significantly affected by protein intake. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that protein limitation induces a shift toward different silk proteins with lower glutamine and/or proline content. Contradictions to the MaSp model lie in the findings that C. moluccensis MA silks did not experience a significant reduction in proline and A. aetherea did not experience a significant reduction in serine on low/no protein. The mechanical properties of the silks could not be explained by a MaSp1 expressional shift. Factors other than MaSp expression, such as the expression of spidroin-like orthologues, may impact on silk amino acid composition and spinning and glandular processes may impact mechanics.

Project description:BACKGROUND: Combining high strength and elasticity, spider silks are exceptionally tough, i.e., able to absorb massive kinetic energy before breaking. Spider silk is therefore a model polymer for development of high performance biomimetic fibers. There are over 41,000 described species of spiders, most spinning multiple types of silk. Thus we have available some 200,000+ unique silks that may cover an amazing breadth of material properties. To date, however, silks from only a few tens of species have been characterized, most chosen haphazardly as model organisms (Nephila) or simply from researchers' backyards. Are we limited to 'blindly fishing' in efforts to discover extraordinary silks? Or, could scientists use ecology to predict which species are likely to spin silks exhibiting exceptional performance properties? METHODOLOGY: We examined the biomechanical properties of silk produced by the remarkable Malagasy 'Darwin's bark spider' (Caerostris darwini), which we predicted would produce exceptional silk based upon its amazing web. The spider constructs its giant orb web (up to 2.8 m(2)) suspended above streams, rivers, and lakes. It attaches the web to substrates on each riverbank by anchor threads as long as 25 meters. Dragline silk from both Caerostris webs and forcibly pulled silk, exhibits an extraordinary combination of high tensile strength and elasticity previously unknown for spider silk. The toughness of forcibly silked fibers averages 350 MJ/m(3), with some samples reaching 520 MJ/m(3). Thus, C. darwini silk is more than twice tougher than any previously described silk, and over 10 times better than Kevlar®. Caerostris capture spiral silk is similarly exceptionally tough. CONCLUSIONS: Caerostris darwini produces the toughest known biomaterial. We hypothesize that this extraordinary toughness coevolved with the unusual ecology and web architecture of these spiders, decreasing the likelihood of bridgelines breaking and collapsing the web into the river. This hypothesis predicts that rapid change in material properties of silk co-occurred with ecological shifts within the genus, and can thus be tested by combining material science, behavioral observations, and phylogenetics. Our findings highlight the potential benefits of natural history-informed bioprospecting to discover silks, as well as other materials, with novel and exceptional properties to serve as models in biomimicry.

Dataset Information

Biological responses to spider silk-antibiotic fusion protein.

Publications

Biological responses to spider silk-antibiotic fusion protein.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets