Synthetic Piriform Spider Silk
Class
Article
Department
Biological and Irrigation Engineering
Faculty Mentor
Randy Lewis
Presentation Type
Poster Presentation
Abstract
Spider silk from N. clavipes have a range of useful properties in addition to remarkable mechanical properties. These silks are uniquely suited for biomedical applications as they are generally biocompatible and biodegradable. Piriform silk is an adhesive protein used by the spider to adhere its web to a variety of substrates. Sequencing of mRNA extracted from the piriform silk gland of N. clavipes has revealed two unique amino acid motifs. The structural role of these motifs in the resulting piriform silk attachment disk is unknown. The specific aim of this project is to produce recombinant piriform spider silk in Escherichia coli. Three biosynthetic proteins will be produced, two based on individual amino acid motifs and one based on the overall piriform sequence. The resulting piriform-analogue proteins will be used to produce fibers, films and gels for mechanical testing. The structural role of piriform's unique motifs will be characterized using X-Ray Diffraction and Circular Dichroism on solid samples. Elucidating the mechanical and structural roles of these motifs will add to the existing repertoire of characterized motifs for the production of tunable, chimeric spider silk materials.
Start Date
4-9-2015 12:00 PM
Synthetic Piriform Spider Silk
Spider silk from N. clavipes have a range of useful properties in addition to remarkable mechanical properties. These silks are uniquely suited for biomedical applications as they are generally biocompatible and biodegradable. Piriform silk is an adhesive protein used by the spider to adhere its web to a variety of substrates. Sequencing of mRNA extracted from the piriform silk gland of N. clavipes has revealed two unique amino acid motifs. The structural role of these motifs in the resulting piriform silk attachment disk is unknown. The specific aim of this project is to produce recombinant piriform spider silk in Escherichia coli. Three biosynthetic proteins will be produced, two based on individual amino acid motifs and one based on the overall piriform sequence. The resulting piriform-analogue proteins will be used to produce fibers, films and gels for mechanical testing. The structural role of piriform's unique motifs will be characterized using X-Ray Diffraction and Circular Dichroism on solid samples. Elucidating the mechanical and structural roles of these motifs will add to the existing repertoire of characterized motifs for the production of tunable, chimeric spider silk materials.