Skip to main content
SLU publication database (SLUpub)

Research article2023Peer reviewedOpen access

Force-Induced Structural Changes in Spider Silk Fibers Introduced by ATR-FTIR Spectroscopy

Jafari, Mohammad Javad; Backlund, Fredrik G.; Arndt, Tina; Schmuck, Benjamin; Greco, Gabriele; Rising, Anna; Barth, Andreas; Ederth, Thomas

Abstract

Silk fibers have unique mechanical properties, and many studies of silk aim at understanding how these properties are related to secondary structure content, which often is determined by infrared spectroscopy. We report significant method-induced irreversible structural changes to both natural and synthetic spider silk fibers, derived from the widely used attenuated total reflection Fourier-transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) technique. By varying the force used to bring fibers into contact with the internal reflection elements of ATR-FTIR accessories, we observed correlated and largely irreversible changes in the secondary structure, with shape relaxation under pressure occurring within minutes. Fitting of spectral components shows that these changes agree with transformations from the alpha-helix to the beta-sheet secondary structure with possible contributions from other secondary structure elements. We further confirm the findings with IR microspectroscopy, where similar differences were seen between the pressed and unaffected regions of spider silk fibers. Our findings show that ATR-FTIR spectroscopy requires care in its use and in the interpretation of the results.

Keywords

silk fibers; ATR-FTIR; secondary structure; pressure effects; spider silk; NT2RepCT minispidroin

Published in

ACS Applied Polymer Materials
2023, Volume: 5, number: 11, pages: 9433 - 9444
Publisher: AMER CHEMICAL SOC