Solution structure of eggcase silk protein and its implications for silk fiber formation.

ABSTRACT: Spider silks are renowned for their excellent mechanical properties and biomimetic and industrial potentials. They are formed from the natural refolding of water-soluble fibroins with alpha-helical and random coil structures in silk glands into insoluble fibers with mainly beta-structures. The structures of the fibroins at atomic resolution and silk formation mechanism remain largely unknown. Here, we report the 3D structures of individual domains of a approximately 366-kDa eggcase silk protein that consists of 20 identical type 1 repetitive domains, one type 2 repetitive domain, and conserved nonrepetitive N- and C-terminal domains. The structures of the individual domains in solution were determined by using NMR techniques. The domain interactions were investigated by NMR and dynamic lig

SUBMITTER: Lin Z 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2690042 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature