composition and hierarchical organisation of a spider silk蜘蛛丝的成分和层次组织.pdfVIP

Composition and Hierarchical Organisation of a Spider Silk 1,2¤a 2 2 2 2 2¤b Alexander Sponner , Wolfram Vater , Shamci Monajembashi , Eberhard Unger , Frank Grosse , Klaus Weisshart * 1 Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom, 2 Leibniz Institute for Age Research, Fritz Lipmann Institute, Jena, Germany Albeit silks are fairly well understood on a molecular level, their hierarchical organisation and the full complexity of constituents in the spun fibre remain poorly defined. Here we link morphological defined structural elements in dragline silk of Nephila clavipes to their biochemical composition and physicochemical properties. Five layers of different make-ups could be distinguished. Of these only the two core layers contained the known silk proteins, but all can vitally contribute to the mechanical performance or properties of the silk fibre. Understanding the composite nature of silk and its supra-molecular organisation will open avenues in the production of high performance fibres based on artificially spun silk material. Citation: Sponner A, Vater W, Monajembashi S, Unger E, Grosse F, et al (2007) Composition and Hierarchical Organisation of a Spider Silk. PLoS ONE 2(10): e998. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0000998 INTRODUCTION due to the fact that no full length sequences have been expressed, Spider silks display extraordinary mechanical features [1] and the since N- and C-termini might contribute to fibre formation [6]. toughness of some dragline or major ampullate silks even rival On the other hand, the spinning process is believed to also vitally