Wu Hsuan-Chen, Pandey Aditi, Chang Liang-Yu, Hsu Chieh-Yun, Yang Thomas Chung-Kuang, Tso I-Min, Sheu Hwo-Shuenn, Yang Jen-Chang
Department of Biochemical Science and Technology, National Taiwan University, Taipei 11052, Taiwan.
Graduate Institute of Nanomedicine and Medical Engineering, College of Biomedical Engineering, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 11052, Taiwan.
Polymers (Basel). 2020 Apr 29;12(5):1013. doi: 10.3390/polym12051013.
The superlative mechanical properties of spider silk and its conspicuous variations have instigated significant interest over the past few years. However, current attempts to synthetically spin spider silk fibers often yield an inferior physical performance, owing to the improper molecular interactions of silk proteins. Considering this, herein, a post-treatment process to reorganize molecular structures and improve the physical strength of spider silk is reported. The major ampullate dragline silk from with a high β-sheet content and an adequate tensile strength was utilized as the study material, while that from was regarded as a reference. Our results indicated that the hydrothermal post-treatment (50-70 °C) of natural spider silk could effectively induce the alternation of secondary structures (random coil to β-sheet) and increase the overall tensile strength of the silk. Such advantageous post-treatment strategy when applied to regenerated spider silk also leads to an increment in the strength by ~2.5-3.0 folds, recapitulating ~90% of the strength of native spider silk. Overall, this study provides a facile and effective post-spinning means for enhancing the molecular structures and mechanical properties of as-spun silk threads, both natural and regenerated.
在过去几年中，蜘蛛丝卓越的机械性能及其显著的变异性引发了人们极大的兴趣。然而，由于丝蛋白分子间相互作用不当，目前合成纺丝蜘蛛丝纤维的尝试往往导致较差的物理性能。考虑到这一点，本文报道了一种用于重组分子结构并提高蜘蛛丝物理强度的后处理工艺。以具有高β-折叠含量和足够拉伸强度的大壶状腺拖牵丝作为研究材料，而将另一种蜘蛛的大壶状腺拖牵丝作为参考。我们的结果表明，天然蜘蛛丝的水热后处理（50-70°C）可有效诱导二级结构的转变（无规卷曲转变为β-折叠）并提高丝的整体拉伸强度。这种有利的后处理策略应用于再生蜘蛛丝时，强度也会提高约2.5-3.0倍，达到天然蜘蛛丝强度的约90%。总体而言，本研究为增强天然和再生初纺丝线的分子结构及机械性能提供了一种简便有效的后纺方法。
