CSIRO Entomology, Clunies Ross St, Acton, ACT 2601, Australia.
Biomaterials. 2010 Mar;31(9):2695-700. doi: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2009.12.021. Epub 2009 Dec 29.
Transgenic production of silkworm and spider silks as biomaterials has posed intrinsic problems due to the large size and repetitive nature of the silk proteins. In contrast the silk of honeybees (Apis mellifera) is composed of a family of four small and non-repetitive fibrous proteins. We report recombinant production and purification of the four full-length unmodified honeybee silk proteins in Escherichia coli at substantial yields of 0.2-2.5 g/L. Under the correct conditions the recombinant proteins self-assembled to reproduce the native coiled coil structure. Using a simple biomimetic spinning system we could fabricate recombinant silk fibers that replicated the tensile strength of the native material.
由于丝蛋白体积大且重复，因此利用转基因方法生产蚕和蜘蛛丝作为生物材料存在固有问题。相比之下，蜜蜂（Apis mellifera）的丝由一组四种小且非重复的纤维蛋白组成。我们报告了在大肠杆菌中以 0.2-2.5 g/L 的大量产量重组生产和纯化四种全长未修饰的蜜蜂丝蛋白，并实现了重组蛋白在正确条件下自组装以重现天然的螺旋卷曲结构。使用简单的仿生纺丝系统，我们可以制造出复制天然材料拉伸强度的重组丝纤维。
