Jeong Lim, Lee Kuen Yong, Liu Ju Whan, Park Won Ho
Department of Textile Engineering, College of Engineering, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 305-764, South Korea.
Int J Biol Macromol. 2006 Mar 30;38(2):140-4. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2006.02.009. Epub 2006 Feb 23.
Nonwoven matrices of silk fibroin (SF) nanofibers were prepared by electrospinning a regenerated SF solution, followed by treatment with solvent vapor including water, methanol, ethanol, and propanol. Structural changes of solvent vapor-treated SF nanofibers were investigated in a time-resolved manner using IR spectroscopy. Conformational transitions of SF nanofibers from random coil to beta-sheet forms were dependent on the type of solvent vapor used, and their transition rates were strongly influenced by treatment temperatures. Consistent with previous findings, methanol vapor treatment provided a fast and effective means by which to alter the secondary structure of SF nanofibers. However, treatment with water vapor, as compared to treatment with alcohol vapor, was also useful for inducing structural changes in SF nanofibers. As demonstrated in the present study, our approach of controlling secondary structure formation of proteins by solvent vapor treatment and monitoring real-time conformational changes may be useful for the design and tailoring of materials for biomedical applications.
通过静电纺丝再生丝素蛋白（SF）溶液，随后用包括水、甲醇、乙醇和丙醇的溶剂蒸汽进行处理，制备了SF纳米纤维的非织造基质。使用红外光谱以时间分辨的方式研究了经溶剂蒸汽处理的SF纳米纤维的结构变化。SF纳米纤维从无规卷曲到β-折叠形式的构象转变取决于所用溶剂蒸汽的类型，并且它们的转变速率受到处理温度的强烈影响。与先前的研究结果一致，甲醇蒸汽处理提供了一种快速有效的方法来改变SF纳米纤维的二级结构。然而，与用酒精蒸汽处理相比，用水蒸汽处理对于诱导SF纳米纤维的结构变化也是有用的。如本研究所示，我们通过溶剂蒸汽处理控制蛋白质二级结构形成并监测实时构象变化的方法可能对生物医学应用材料的设计和定制有用。
