Zhang Wenwen, Fan Yimin
Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center of Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resources, International Innovation Center for Forest Chemicals and Materials, College of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, China.
Methods Mol Biol. 2021;2347:3-15. doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-1574-4_1.
As an abundant fibrous protein, animal silks have received a variety of interests in both traditional and high-tech industries, such as textiles, decoration, and biomedicine, due to their unique advantages in mechanical performance, sustainability, biocompatibility, and biodegradability. While developing applications of animal silks, the structure of animal silks has also received more and more attention in these decades. Briefly, most animal silks can be considered as semicrystalline fibers, which are composed of β-sheet nanocrystals and amorphous regions. However, different animal silks have similarities and also have obvious differences at different structural levels. In this chapter, we will introduce the structures of the three most representative animal silks, that is, spider dragline silk, tussah silk, and mulberry silk. The similarities and differences in their structures will be highlighted, so as to provide fundamental guidance for the research and use of these animal silks.
作为一种丰富的纤维蛋白，动物丝因其在机械性能、可持续性、生物相容性和生物降解性方面的独特优势，在传统和高科技产业中都受到了广泛关注，如纺织、装饰和生物医学等领域。在开发动物丝应用的过程中，动物丝的结构在过去几十年里也受到了越来越多的关注。简而言之，大多数动物丝可被视为半结晶纤维，由β-折叠纳米晶体和无定形区域组成。然而，不同的动物丝在不同结构层次上既有相似之处，也有明显差异。在本章中，我们将介绍三种最具代表性的动物丝的结构，即蜘蛛拖牵丝、柞蚕丝和桑蚕丝。将突出它们结构上的异同，以便为这些动物丝的研究和应用提供基础指导。
