Simmons Jeffrey R, Xu Lingling, Rainey Jan K
ACS Biomater Sci Eng. 2019 Oct 14;5(10):4985-4993. doi: 10.1021/acsbiomaterials.9b00504. Epub 2019 Sep 26.
Pyriform silk is a critically important fiber in spider web construction. It functions in a glue-coated attachment disc to form junctions in spider webs, connecting the web to disparate materials. Despite the biological importance of this silk, both natural and recombinant pyriform silk have yet to be structurally or mechanically characterized. In this study, we demonstrate recombinant production of a 477 amino acid protein based on pyriform silk. This pyriform silk protein shows α-helicity in both an aqueous buffer and in a fluorinated acid- and alcohol-based spinning dope. Wet-spinning produced fibers having no visible defects in surface or cross-sectional analysis, with mechanical behavior varying as a function of postspin stretching conditions and correlating to loss of α-helicity in the fibrous state. Multiple conditions gave rise to fibers that are both strong and extensible, contrasting with some other silks that are biased toward being strong or extensible. This behavior is strikingly similar to recombinant aciniform silk, despite distinct primary structuring and composition.
梨状丝是蜘蛛网构建中至关重要的一种纤维。它在涂有胶水的附着盘起作用，在蜘蛛网上形成连接点，将蛛网与不同材料相连。尽管这种丝具有生物学重要性，但天然和重组梨状丝在结构或力学特性方面均尚未得到表征。在本研究中，我们展示了基于梨状丝的一种477个氨基酸的蛋白质的重组生产。这种梨状丝蛋白在水性缓冲液以及基于氟化酸和醇的纺丝原液中均呈现α螺旋结构。湿法纺丝制备的纤维在表面或横截面分析中无可见缺陷，其力学行为随纺丝后拉伸条件而变化，并且与纤维状态下α螺旋结构的丧失相关。多种条件下得到的纤维兼具强度和延展性，这与一些其他偏向于高强度或高延展性的丝不同。尽管其一级结构和组成不同，但这种行为与重组aciniform丝极为相似。
