Research article - Peer-reviewed, 2007
Macroscopic fibers self-assembled from recombinant miniature spider silk proteins
Stark Margareta, Grip Stefan, Rising Anna, Hedhammar My, Engström Wilhelm, Hjälm Göran, Johansson JanAbstract
Strength, elasticity, and biocompatibility make spider silk an attractive resource for the production of artificial biomaterials. Spider silk proteins, spidroins, contain hundreds of repeated poly alanine/glycine-rich blocks and are difficult to produce recombinantly in soluble form. Most previous attempts to produce artificial spider silk fibers have included solubilization steps in nonphysiological solvents. It is here demonstrated that a miniature spidroin from a protein in dragline silk of Euprosthenops australis can be produced in a soluble form in Escherichia coli when fused to a highly soluble protein partner. Although this miniature spidroin contains only four poly alanine/glycine-rich blocks followed by a C-terminal non-repetitive domain, meter-long fibers are spontaneously formed after proteolytic release of the fusion partner. The structure of the fibers is similar to that of dragline silks, and although self-assembled from recombinant proteins they are as strong as fibers spun from redissolved silk. Moreover, the fibers appear to be biocompatible because human tissue culture cells can grow on and attach to the fibers. These findings enable controlled production of high-performance biofibers at large scale under physiological conditionsPublished in
Biomacromolecules2007, volume: 8, number: 5, pages: 1695-1701
Publisher: AMER CHEMICAL SOC
Authors' information
Stark, Margareta
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Biomedical Science and Veterinary Public Health
Grip, Stefan
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Biomedical Science and Veterinary Public Health
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Biomedical Science and Veterinary Public Health
Hedhammar, My
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry (AFB)
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Biomedical Science and Veterinary Public Health
Hjälm, Göran
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry (AFB)
Johansson, Jan
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry (AFB)
UKÄ Subject classification
Veterinary Science
Animal and Dairy Science
Publication Identifiers
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/bm070049y
URI (permanent link to this page)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/16764