Cao Binrui, Mao Chuanbin
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Oklahoma, 620 Parrington Oval, Room 208, Norman, Oklahoma 73019, USA.
Langmuir. 2007 Oct 9;23(21):10701-5. doi: 10.1021/la7014435. Epub 2007 Sep 12.
Spider dragline silk as a protein fiber can be pictured as the oriented organization of protein nanocrystals along the long axis with their spacing filled by amorphous protein domains. We used the surface of the spider dragline silk as a biological template to nucleate bone mineral hydroxylapatite (HAP) site-specifically from a HAP-supersaturated solution. HAP crystals were found to be nucleated on the surface of silks with their c axis preferentially oriented at an average angle of 72.9 degrees with respect to the long axis of the silks. The preferred orientation is nearly identical among the different mineralized silks that we studied. Other materials such as Au and CdS could be nucleated on the silks but did not show any preferred orientation. We believe that the oriented nucleation of HAP is directly related to the structures of silks and HAP. The mineralized silks will combine the good mechanical properties of the spider silks and the biocompatibility of HAP and may be assembled into ideal biomaterials as bone implants.
蜘蛛拖牵丝作为一种蛋白质纤维，可以被想象成蛋白质纳米晶体沿着长轴的定向排列，其间距由无定形蛋白质区域填充。我们将蜘蛛拖牵丝的表面用作生物模板，从羟基磷灰石（HAP）过饱和溶液中位点特异性地使骨矿物质羟基磷灰石（HAP）成核。发现HAP晶体在丝的表面成核，其c轴相对于丝的长轴优先以72.9度的平均角度取向。在我们研究的不同矿化丝中，这种择优取向几乎相同。其他材料如金和硫化镉也可以在丝上成核，但没有显示出任何择优取向。我们认为HAP的定向成核与丝和HAP的结构直接相关。矿化丝将结合蜘蛛丝良好的机械性能和HAP的生物相容性，并可能被组装成理想的生物材料作为骨植入物。
