Boulet-Audet, M., Holland, C. orcid.org/0000-0003-0913-2221, Gheysens, T. et al. (1 more author) (2016) Dry-Spun Silk Produces Native-Like Fibroin Solutions. Biomacromolecules, 17 (10). pp. 3198-3204. ISSN 1525-7797
Abstract
Silk's outstanding mechanical properties and energy efficient solidification mechanisms provide inspiration for biomaterial self-assembly as well as offering a diverse platform of materials suitable for many biotechnology applications. Experiments now reveal that the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori secretes its silk in a practically "unspun" state that retains much of the solvent water and exhibits a surprisingly low degree of molecular order (β-sheet crystallinity) compared to the state found in a fully formed and matured fiber. These new observations challenge the general understanding of silk spinning and in particular the role of the spinning duct for structure development. Building on this discovery we report that silk spun in low humidity appears to arrest a molecular annealing process crucial for β-sheet formation. This, in turn, has significant positive implications, enabling the production of a high fidelity reconstituted silk fibroin with properties akin to the gold standard of unspun native silk.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2016 American Chemical Society. This is an open access article published under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) License (http://pubs.acs.org/page/policy/authorchoice_ccby_termsofuse.html), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the author and source are cited. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Engineering (Sheffield) > Department of Materials Science and Engineering (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 13 Sep 2016 15:17 |
Last Modified: | 30 Nov 2016 11:36 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.biomac.6b00887 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | ACS |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1021/acs.biomac.6b00887 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:104589 |