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Spiders Use Structural Conversion of Globular Amyloidogenic Domains to Make Strong Silk Fibers
The Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Infection and Immunity, Institutes of Biology and Medical Sciences, Soochow University, Suzhou, 215123, China.
The Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Infection and Immunity, Institutes of Biology and Medical Sciences, Soochow University, Suzhou, 215123, China.
School of Life Sciences, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, 230032, China, Anhui.
Department of Biosciences and Nutrition, Karolinska Institutet, Huddinge, 14157, Sweden; College of Wildlife and Protected Area, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, 150040, China.
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2024 (English)In: Advanced Functional Materials, ISSN 1616-301X, E-ISSN 1616-3028, Vol. 34, no 23, article id 2315409Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Spider silk—an environmentally friendly protein-based material—is widely recognized for its extraordinary mechanical properties. Biomimetic spider silk-like fibers made from recombinant spider silk proteins (spidroins) currently falls short compared to natural silks in terms of mechanical performance. In this study, it is discovered that spiders use structural conversion of molecular enhancers—conserved globular 127-residue spacer domains—to make strong silk fibers. This domain lacks poly-Ala motifs but interestingly contains motifs that are similar to human amyloidogenic motifs, and that it self-assembles into amyloid-like fibrils through a non-nucleation-dependent pathway, likely to avoid the formation of cytotoxic intermediates. Incorporating this spacer domain into a recombinant chimeric spidroin facilitates self-assembly into silk-like fibers, increases fiber molecular homogeneity, and markedly enhances fiber mechanical strength. These findings highlight that spiders employ diverse strategies to produce silk with exceptional mechanical properties. The spacer domain offers a way to enhance the properties of recombinant spider silk-like fibers and other functional materials.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Wiley , 2024. Vol. 34, no 23, article id 2315409
Keywords [en]
amyloid-like fibril, mechanical property, recombinant spider silk, spacer, spidroin
National Category
Molecular Biology Structural Biology
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-366792DOI: 10.1002/adfm.202315409ISI: 001166331900001Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85185272600OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kth-366792DiVA, id: diva2:1983424
Note

QC 20250710

Available from: 2025-07-10 Created: 2025-07-10 Last updated: 2025-07-10Bibliographically approved

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Zhong, Xueying

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