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Customized Flagelliform Spidroins Form Spider Silk-like Fibers at pH 8.0 with Outstanding Tensile Strength.

ABSTRACT: Spider flagelliform silk shows the best extensibility among various types of silk, but its biomimetic preparation has not been much studied. Herein, five customized flagelliform spidroins (FlSps: S and NTD_Fl-Sn-CTD_Fl, n = 1-4), in which the repetitive region (S) and N-/C- terminal domains (NTD_Fl and CTD_Fl) are from the same spidroin and spider species, were produced recombinantly. The recombinant spidroins with terminal domains were able to form silk-like fibers with diameters of ∼5 μm by manual pulling at pH 8.0, where the secondary structure transformation occurred. The silk-like fibers from NTD_Fl-S4-CTD_Fl showed the highest tensile strength (∼250 MPa), while those ones with 1-3 S broke at a similar stress (∼180 MPa), suggesting that increasing the amounts of the repetitive region can improve the tensile strength, but a certain threshold might need to be reached. This study shows successful preparation of flagelliform silk-like fibers with good mechanical properties, providing general insights into efficient biomimetic preparations of spider silks.

SUBMITTER: Li X

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8753598 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Nephila clavipes Flagelliform silk-like GGX motifs contribute to extensibility and spacer motifs contribute to strength in synthetic spider silk fibers.

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Proteomic Evidence for Components of Spider Silk Synthesis from Black Widow Silk Glands and Fibers.

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Properties of Biomimetic Artificial Spider Silk Fibers Tuned by PostSpin Bath Incubation.

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Ultrafine and High-Strength Silk Fibers Secreted by Bimolter Silkworms.

Project description:Ultrafine fibers are widely employed because of their lightness, softness, and warmth retention. Although silkworm silk is one of the most applied natural silks, it is coarse and difficult to transform into ultrafine fibers. Thus, to obtain ultrafine high-performance silk fibers, we employed anti-juvenile hormones in this study to induce bimolter silkworms. We found that the bimolter cocoons were composed of densely packed thin fibers and small apertures, wherein the silk diameter was 54.9% less than that of trimolter silk. Further analysis revealed that the bimolter silk was cleaner and lighter than the control silk. In addition, it was stronger (739 MPa versus 497 MPa) and more stiffness (i.e., a higher Young's modulus) than the trimolter silk. FTIR and X-ray diffraction results revealed that the excellent mechanical properties of bimolter silk can be attributed to the higher β-sheet content and crystallinity. Chitin staining of the anterior silk gland suggested that the lumen is narrower in bimolters, which may lead to the formation of greater numbers of β-sheet structures in the silk. Therefore, this study reveals the relationship between the structures and mechanical properties of bimolter silk and provides a valuable reference for producing high-strength and ultrafine silk fibers.

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Comprehensive Proteomic Analysis of Spider Dragline Silk from Black Widows: A Recipe to Build Synthetic Silk Fibers.

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