1
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Yu Y, Chen K, Wang J, Zhang Z, Hu B, Liu X, Lin Z, Tan A. Custom-designed, mass silk production in genetically engineered silkworms. PNAS NEXUS 2024; 3:pgae128. [PMID: 38562581 PMCID: PMC10983830 DOI: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgae128] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2024] [Accepted: 03/14/2024] [Indexed: 04/04/2024]
Abstract
Genetically engineered silkworms have been widely used to obtain silk with modified characteristics especially by introducing spider silk genes. However, these attempts are still challenging due to limitations in transformation strategies and difficulties in integration of the large DNA fragments. Here, we describe three different transformation strategies in genetically engineered silkworms, including transcription-activator-like effector nuclease (TALEN)-mediated fibroin light chain (FibL) fusion (BmFibL-F), TALEN-mediated FibH replacement (BmFibH-R), and transposon-mediated genetic transformation with the silk gland-specific fibroin heavy chain (FibH) promoter (BmFibH-T). As the result, the yields of exogenous silk proteins, a 160 kDa major ampullate spidroin 2 (MaSp2) from the orb-weaving spider Nephila clavipes and a 226 kDa fibroin heavy chain protein (EvFibH) from the bagworm Eumeta variegate, reach 51.02 and 64.13% in BmFibH-R transformed cocoon shells, respectively. Moreover, the presence of MaSp2 or EvFibH significantly enhances the toughness of genetically engineered silk fibers by ∼86% in BmFibH-T and ∼80% in BmFibH-R silkworms, respectively. Structural analysis reveals a substantial ∼40% increase in fiber crystallinity, primarily attributed to the presence of unique polyalanines in the repetitive sequences of MaSp2 or EvFibH. In addition, RNA-seq analysis reveals that BmFibH-R system only causes minor impact on the expression of endogenous genes. Our study thus provides insights into developing custom-designed silk production using the genetically engineered silkworm as the bioreactor.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ye Yu
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Sericultural Biology and Biotechnology, School of Biotechnology, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang 212100, China
- Key Laboratory of Silkworm and Mulberry Genetic Improvement, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Sericultural Scientific Research Center, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Zhenjiang 212100, China
| | - Kai Chen
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Sericultural Biology and Biotechnology, School of Biotechnology, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang 212100, China
- Key Laboratory of Silkworm and Mulberry Genetic Improvement, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Sericultural Scientific Research Center, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Zhenjiang 212100, China
| | - Jingxia Wang
- School of Life Sciences, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China
- Tianjin Key Laboratory of Function and Application of Biological Macromolecular Structures, School of Life Sciences, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China
| | - Zhongjie Zhang
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Sericultural Biology and Biotechnology, School of Biotechnology, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang 212100, China
- Key Laboratory of Silkworm and Mulberry Genetic Improvement, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Sericultural Scientific Research Center, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Zhenjiang 212100, China
| | - Bo Hu
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Sericultural Biology and Biotechnology, School of Biotechnology, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang 212100, China
- Key Laboratory of Silkworm and Mulberry Genetic Improvement, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Sericultural Scientific Research Center, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Zhenjiang 212100, China
| | - Xiaojing Liu
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Sericultural Biology and Biotechnology, School of Biotechnology, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang 212100, China
- Key Laboratory of Silkworm and Mulberry Genetic Improvement, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Sericultural Scientific Research Center, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Zhenjiang 212100, China
| | - Zhi Lin
- School of Life Sciences, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China
- Tianjin Key Laboratory of Function and Application of Biological Macromolecular Structures, School of Life Sciences, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China
| | - Anjiang Tan
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Sericultural Biology and Biotechnology, School of Biotechnology, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang 212100, China
- Key Laboratory of Silkworm and Mulberry Genetic Improvement, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Sericultural Scientific Research Center, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Zhenjiang 212100, China
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2
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Wang X, Ye X, Guo J, Dai X, Yu S, Zhong B. Modeling the 3-dimensional structure of the silkworm's spinning apparatus in silk production. Acta Biomater 2024; 174:217-227. [PMID: 38030101 DOI: 10.1016/j.actbio.2023.11.030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2023] [Revised: 11/07/2023] [Accepted: 11/21/2023] [Indexed: 12/01/2023]
Abstract
The silk-spinning process of the silkworms transforms the liquid silk solution to a solid state under mild conditions, making it an attractive model for bioinspiration However, the precise mechanism behind silk expulsion remains largely unknown. Here we selected the silkworms as representative models to investigate the silk-spinning mechanism. We used serial block-face scanning electron microscopy (SBF-SEM) to reconstruct the three-dimensional structures of the spinnerets in silkworms at various stages and with different gene backgrounds. By comparing the musculature and duct deformation of these spinneret models during the spinning process, we were able to simulate the morphological changes of the spinneret. Based on the results, we proposed three essential factors for silkworm spinning: the pressure generated by the silk gland, the opening duct, and the pulling force generated by head movement. Understanding the silkworm spinning process provides insights into clarify the fluid-ejecting mechanism of a group of animals. Moreover, these findings are helpful to the development of biomimetic spinning device that mimics the push-and-pull dual-force system in silkworms. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: The silkworms' spinning system produces fibers under mild conditions, making it an ideal candidate for bioinspiration. However, the mechanism of silk expulsion is unknown, and the three-dimensional structure of the spinneret is still uncertain. In this study, we reconstructed a detailed 3-dimensional model of the spinneret at near-nanometer resolution, and for the first time, we observed the changes that occur before and during the silk-spinning process. Our reconstructed models suggested that silkworms have the ability to control the spinning process by opening or closing the spinning duct. During the continuously spinning period, both the pressure generated by the silk gland and the pulling force resulting from head movement work in tandem to expel the silk solution. We believe that gaining a full understanding of the spinning process steps can advance our ability to spin synthetic fibers with properties comparable to those of native fibers by mimicking the natural spinning process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xinqiu Wang
- College of Animal Sciences, Zhejiang University, 310058 Hangzhou, China; Key Laboratory of Silkworm and Bee Resource Utilization and Innovation of Zhejiang Province, 310058 Hangzhou, China
| | - Xiaogang Ye
- College of Animal Sciences, Zhejiang University, 310058 Hangzhou, China; Key Laboratory of Silkworm and Bee Resource Utilization and Innovation of Zhejiang Province, 310058 Hangzhou, China.
| | - Jiansheng Guo
- Department of Pathology of Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, 310058 Hangzhou, China; Center of Cryo-Electron Microscopy, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, 310058 Hangzhou, China
| | - Xiangping Dai
- College of Animal Sciences, Zhejiang University, 310058 Hangzhou, China; Key Laboratory of Silkworm and Bee Resource Utilization and Innovation of Zhejiang Province, 310058 Hangzhou, China
| | - Shihua Yu
- College of Animal Sciences, Zhejiang University, 310058 Hangzhou, China; Key Laboratory of Silkworm and Bee Resource Utilization and Innovation of Zhejiang Province, 310058 Hangzhou, China
| | - Boxiong Zhong
- College of Animal Sciences, Zhejiang University, 310058 Hangzhou, China; Key Laboratory of Silkworm and Bee Resource Utilization and Innovation of Zhejiang Province, 310058 Hangzhou, China.
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3
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Zhou J, Zhou X, Pan L, Deng Y, Zheng H, Peng Z, Wan J, Zhou Y, Wang B. Molecular Evidence of Structural Changes in Silk Using Unlimited Degradation Mass Spectrometry. ACS OMEGA 2023; 8:34410-34419. [PMID: 37780015 PMCID: PMC10536863 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.3c02254] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2023] [Accepted: 08/03/2023] [Indexed: 10/03/2023]
Abstract
Proteomics has important uses in archeological science because it can distinguish species, reveal the evolution of paleontology, and provide biological evidence of historical events. However, this technique still has full potential in the study of silk aging mechanisms. In this work, we propose a strategy combining unlimited degradation with mass-spectrometry-based proteomics techniques, which interpret protein fragmentation propensity and secondary structure changes by detecting content changes of specific peptide groups in complex proteomes. This approach was employed to study the conformational changes in silk microscopic crystals after heat treatment. Combining conventional mechanics and crystallographic characterization, a thermal aging degradation mechanism model was proposed. At the same time, it explained the interesting problem that the crystallinity remained unchanged, but the mechanical properties decreased significantly. Focusing on the unlimited degradation process, this method will be widely applicable to the study of silk and wool aging processes and regenerated silk fibroin.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jie Zhou
- Institute
of Textile Conservation, Zhejiang Sci-Tech
University, Hangzhou 310018, China
| | - Xiong Zhou
- Institute
of Textile Conservation, Zhejiang Sci-Tech
University, Hangzhou 310018, China
| | - Lindan Pan
- Institute
of Textile Conservation, Zhejiang Sci-Tech
University, Hangzhou 310018, China
| | - Yefeng Deng
- Institute
of Textile Conservation, Zhejiang Sci-Tech
University, Hangzhou 310018, China
| | - Hailing Zheng
- Institute
of Textile Conservation, Zhejiang Sci-Tech
University, Hangzhou 310018, China
- Key
Scientific Research Base of Textile Conservation, State Administration for Cultural Heritage, China National Silk Museum, Hangzhou 310002, China
| | - Zhiqin Peng
- Institute
of Textile Conservation, Zhejiang Sci-Tech
University, Hangzhou 310018, China
| | - Junmin Wan
- Institute
of Textile Conservation, Zhejiang Sci-Tech
University, Hangzhou 310018, China
| | - Yang Zhou
- Key
Scientific Research Base of Textile Conservation, State Administration for Cultural Heritage, China National Silk Museum, Hangzhou 310002, China
| | - Bing Wang
- Institute
of Textile Conservation, Zhejiang Sci-Tech
University, Hangzhou 310018, China
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4
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Yazawa K, Iwata S, Gotoh Y. Wild Silkworm Cocoon Waste Conversion into Tough Regenerated Silk Fibers by Solution Spinning. Biomacromolecules 2023; 24:1700-1708. [PMID: 36917682 DOI: 10.1021/acs.biomac.2c01476] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/16/2023]
Abstract
Wild silkworm silk fibers have garnered attention owing to their softness, natural color, lightweight, and excellent mechanical properties. Because most wild silkworm cocoons obtained are pierced or dirty after the eclosion process, it is difficult to reel the long filament from the pierced cocoons to use as textile materials. Therefore, damaged wild silkworm cocoons are typically removed during the industrial process. Artificial silk spinning has been developed to transform domesticated silkworm silk solutions into regenerated silk fibers. However, regenerated fibers derived from wild silkworm silk have not been reported. Here, we produced regenerated silk fibers using a dry-wet spinning method using a dope solution derived from wild silkworm silk cocoon wastes. These regenerated silk fibers have thick and uniform diameters, unlike native silk fibers, contributing to their usefulness for sterilization and handling in medical applications. Moreover, they exhibited the same level of mechanical strength as their native counterparts. The molecular orientation and crystallinity of the regenerated silk fibers were adjustable by the drawing process, enabling the realization of their various tensile properties. This study promotes the utilization of unused protein resources to produce mechanically stable and tough silk-based fibers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kenjiro Yazawa
- Department of Applied Biology, Faculty of Textile Science and Technology, Shinshu University, 3-15-1 Tokida, Ueda, Nagano 386-8567, Japan.,Division of Biological and Medical Fibers, Interdisciplinary Cluster for Cutting Edge Research, Institute for Fiber Engineering, Shinshu University, 3-15-1, Tokida, Ueda, Nagano 386-8567, Japan
| | - Shunsuke Iwata
- Department of Applied Biology, Faculty of Textile Science and Technology, Shinshu University, 3-15-1 Tokida, Ueda, Nagano 386-8567, Japan
| | - Yasuo Gotoh
- Division of Biological and Medical Fibers, Interdisciplinary Cluster for Cutting Edge Research, Institute for Fiber Engineering, Shinshu University, 3-15-1, Tokida, Ueda, Nagano 386-8567, Japan.,Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Shinshu University, 3-15-1 Tokida, Ueda, Nagano 386-8567, Japan
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5
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Yoshioka T, Kameda T, Burghammer M, Riekel C. Mesoscale Confinement in Bagworm Silk: A Hidden Structural Organization. NANO LETTERS 2023; 23:827-834. [PMID: 36662558 DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.2c03734] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
While silk fibers produced by silkworms and spiders are frequently described as a network of amorphous protein chains reinforced by crystalline β-sheet nanodomains, the importance of higher-order, self-assembled structures has been recognized for advanced modeling of mechanical properties. General acceptance of hierarchical structural models is, however, currently limited by lack of experimental results. Indeed, X-ray scattering studies of spider's dragline-type fibers have been particularly limited by low crystallinities. Here we are reporting on probing the local structure of exceptionally crystalline bagworm silk fibers by X-ray nanobeam scattering. Probing the comparable thickness of cross sections with an X-ray nanobeam allows removing the strong scattering background from the outer sericin layer and reveals a hidden structural organization due to a radial gradient in diameters of mesoscale nanofibrillar bundles in the fibroin phase. Our results provide direct support for lateral interactions between nanofibrils.
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Affiliation(s)
- Taiyo Yoshioka
- Silk Materials Research Group, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO), 1-2 Owashi, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8634, Japan
| | - Tsunenori Kameda
- Silk Materials Research Group, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO), 1-2 Owashi, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8634, Japan
| | - Manfred Burghammer
- The European Synchrotron (ESRF), 71 Avenue des Martyrs, CS40220, 38043 Grenoble Cedex 9, France
| | - Christian Riekel
- The European Synchrotron (ESRF), 71 Avenue des Martyrs, CS40220, 38043 Grenoble Cedex 9, France
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6
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Abbott A, Gravina ME, Vandadi M, Rahbar N, Coburn JM. Influence of lyophilization primary drying time and temperature on porous silk scaffold fabrication for biomedical applications. J Biomed Mater Res A 2023; 111:118-131. [PMID: 36205385 DOI: 10.1002/jbm.a.37451] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2021] [Revised: 05/20/2022] [Accepted: 09/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Lyophilization of protein solutions, such as silk fibroin (silk), produces porous scaffolds useful for tissue engineering (TE). The impact of modifying lyophilization primary drying parameters on scaffold properties has not yet been explored previously. In this work, changes to primary drying duration and temperature were investigated using 3%, 6%, 9%, and 12% (w/v) silk solutions, via protocols labeled as Long Hold, Slow Ramp, and Standard. The 9% and 12% scaffolds were not successfully fabricated using the Standard protocol, while the Long Hold and Slow Ramp protocols resulted in scaffolds from all silk solution concentrations. Scaffolds fabricated using the Long Hold protocol had higher Young's moduli, smaller pore Feret diameters, and faster degradation. To investigate the utility of the different lyophilized scaffolds for in vitro cell culturing, the HepaRG liver cell line was cultured in the 3% to 12% scaffolds fabricated using the Long Hold protocol. The HepaRG cells grown in 3% scaffolds initially had greater lipid accumulation and metabolic activity than the other groups, although these differences were no longer apparent by Day 28. The deoxyribonucleic acid content of the HepaRG cells grown in 3% scaffold group was also initially significantly higher than the other groups. Significant differences in gene expression by 9% scaffolded HepaRG cells (CK19, HNFα) were seen on Day 14 while significant differences by 12% scaffolded HepaRG cells (ALB, APOA4) were seen on Day 28. Overall, modifying the primary drying parameters and silk concentration resulted in lyophilized scaffolds with tunable properties useful for TE applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alycia Abbott
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Mattea E Gravina
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Mobin Vandadi
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Nima Rahbar
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Jeannine M Coburn
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
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7
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Fast and reversible crosslinking of a silk elastin-like polymer. Acta Biomater 2022; 141:14-23. [PMID: 34971785 PMCID: PMC8898266 DOI: 10.1016/j.actbio.2021.12.031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2021] [Revised: 12/22/2021] [Accepted: 12/23/2021] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Elastin-like polymers (ELPs) and their chimeric subfamily the silk elastin-like polymers (SELPs) exhibit a lower critical solvation temperature (LCST) behavior in water which has been extensively studied from theoretical, computational and experimental perspectives. The inclusion of silk domains in the backbone of the ELPs effects the molecular dynamics of the elastin-like domains in response to increased temperature above its transition temperature and confers gelation ability. This response has been studied in terms of initial and long-term changes in structures, however, intermediate transition states have been less investigated. Moreover, little is known about the effects of reversible hydration on the elastin versus silk domains in the physical crosslinks. We used spectroscopic techniques to analyze initial, intermediate and long-term states of the crosslinks in SELPs. A combination of thermoanalytical and rheological measurements demonstrated that the fast reversible rehydration of the elastin motifs adjacent to the relatively small silk domains was capable of breaking the silk physical crosslinks. This feature can be exploited to tailor the dynamics of these types of crosslinks in SELPs. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: The combination of silk and elastin in a single molecule results in synergy via their interactions to impact the protein polymer properties. The ability of the silk domains to crosslink affects the thermoresponsive properties of the elastin domains. These interactions have been studied at early and late states of the physical crosslinking, while the intermediate states were the focus of the present study to understand the reversible phase-transitions of the elastin domains over the silk physical crosslinking. The thermoresponsive properties of the elastin domains at the initial, intermediate and late states of silk crosslinking were characterized to demonstrate that reversible hydration of the elastin domains influenced the reversibility of the silk crosslinks.
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8
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Structure of Animal Silks. Methods Mol Biol 2022; 2347:3-15. [PMID: 34472050 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-1574-4_1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
As an abundant fibrous protein, animal silks have received a variety of interests in both traditional and high-tech industries, such as textiles, decoration, and biomedicine, due to their unique advantages in mechanical performance, sustainability, biocompatibility, and biodegradability. While developing applications of animal silks, the structure of animal silks has also received more and more attention in these decades. Briefly, most animal silks can be considered as semicrystalline fibers, which are composed of β-sheet nanocrystals and amorphous regions. However, different animal silks have similarities and also have obvious differences at different structural levels. In this chapter, we will introduce the structures of the three most representative animal silks, that is, spider dragline silk, tussah silk, and mulberry silk. The similarities and differences in their structures will be highlighted, so as to provide fundamental guidance for the research and use of these animal silks.
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9
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Chen J, Tsuchiya K, Masunaga H, Malay AD, Numata K. A silk composite fiber reinforced by telechelic-type polyalanine and its strengthening mechanism. Polym Chem 2022. [DOI: 10.1039/d2py00030j] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
A telechelic-type polyalanine was doped in silkworm silk fibroins to prepare reinforced composite fibers, which exhibited 42% and 51% higher mechanical properties than silk-only fibers in terms of tensile strength and toughness, respectively.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jianming Chen
- Biomacromolecules Research Team, RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan
| | - Kousuke Tsuchiya
- Department of Material Chemistry, Kyoto University, Nishikyo-ku, Kyoto 615-8510, Japan
| | - Hiroyasu Masunaga
- Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute, 1-1-1, Kouto, Sayo-cho, Sayo-gun, Hyogo 679-5198, Japan
| | - Ali D. Malay
- Biomacromolecules Research Team, RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan
| | - Keiji Numata
- Biomacromolecules Research Team, RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan
- Department of Material Chemistry, Kyoto University, Nishikyo-ku, Kyoto 615-8510, Japan
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10
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Actinomycin X2, an Antimicrobial Depsipeptide from Marine-Derived Streptomyces cyaneofuscatus Applied as a Good Natural Dye for Silk Fabric. Mar Drugs 2021; 20:md20010016. [PMID: 35049871 PMCID: PMC8778624 DOI: 10.3390/md20010016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2021] [Revised: 12/19/2021] [Accepted: 12/20/2021] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Actinomycins as clinical medicine have been extensively studied, while few investigations were conducted to discover the feasibility of actinomycins as antimicrobial natural dye contributing to the medical value of the functional fabrics. This study was focused on the application of actinomycin X2 (Ac.X2), a peptide pigment cultured from marine-derived Streptomyces cyaneofuscatus, in the dyeing and finishing of silk fabric. The dyeing potential of Ac.X2 with silk vs. cotton fabrics was assessed. As a result, the silk fabric exhibited greater uptake and color fastness with Ac.X2. Through Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses, some changes of chemical property for the dyed fabric and Ac.X2 were studied. The silk fabric dyed with Ac.X2 exhibited good UV protection ability. The antibacterial properties of dyed and finished silk were also evaluated, which exhibited over 90% antibacterial activity even after 20 washing cycles. In addition, the brine shrimp assay was conducted to evaluate the general toxicity of the tested fabric, and the results indicated that the dyed silk fabrics had a good biological safety property.
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11
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Kamada A, Rodriguez-Garcia M, Ruggeri FS, Shen Y, Levin A, Knowles TPJ. Controlled self-assembly of plant proteins into high-performance multifunctional nanostructured films. Nat Commun 2021; 12:3529. [PMID: 34112802 PMCID: PMC8192951 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-23813-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2020] [Accepted: 04/21/2021] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
The abundance of plant-derived proteins, as well as their biodegradability and low environmental impact make them attractive polymeric feedstocks for next-generation functional materials to replace current petroleum-based systems. However, efforts to generate functional materials from plant-based proteins in a scalable manner have been hampered by the lack of efficient methods to induce and control their micro and nanoscale structure, key requirements for achieving advantageous material properties and tailoring their functionality. Here, we demonstrate a scalable approach for generating mechanically robust plant-based films on a metre-scale through controlled nanometre-scale self-assembly of water-insoluble plant proteins. The films produced using this method exhibit high optical transmittance, as well as robust mechanical properties comparable to engineering plastics. Furthermore, we demonstrate the ability to impart nano- and microscale patterning into such films through templating, leading to the formation of hydrophobic surfaces as well as structural colour by controlling the size of the patterned features.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ayaka Kamada
- Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Marc Rodriguez-Garcia
- Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- Xampla Ltd, Cambridge, UK
| | - Francesco Simone Ruggeri
- Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- Laboratory of Organic Chemistry, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands
- Laboratory of Physical Chemistry, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Yi Shen
- Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Aviad Levin
- Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Tuomas P J Knowles
- Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
- Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
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12
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Lassenberger A, Martel A, Porcar L, Baccile N. Interpenetrated biosurfactant-silk fibroin networks - a SANS study. SOFT MATTER 2021; 17:2302-2314. [PMID: 33480918 DOI: 10.1039/d0sm01869d] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Silk fibroin (SF) based hydrogels have been exploited for years for their inherent biocompatibility and favorable mechanical properties which makes them interesting for biotechnology applications. In this study we investigate silk based composite hydrogels where pH-sensitive, anionic biosurfactant assemblies (sophorolipids SL-C18 : 1 and SL-C18 : 0), are employed to improve the present properties of SF. Results suggest that the presence of SL surfactant assemblies leads to faster gelling of SF by accelerating the refolding from random coil to β-sheet as shown by infrared and UV-visible spectroscopy. Small angle neutron scattering (SANS) including contrast matching studies show that SF and SL assemblies coexist in a fibrillary network that is, in the case of SL-C18 : 0, interpenetrating. The resulting overall network structure in composite gels is slightly more affected by SL-C18 : 1 than by SL-C18 : 0, whereas the structure of both SF and surfactant assemblies remains unchanged. No disassembly of SL surfactant structures is observed, which gives a new perspective on SF-surfactant interactions. The hydrophobic effect within SF is favored in the presence of SL, leading to faster refolding of SF into β-sheet conformation. The presented composite gels, being an interpenetrating network of which one compound (SL-C18 : 0) can be tweaked by pH, open an interesting option towards improved workability and stimuli responsive mechanical properties of SF based hydrogels with possible applications in controlled cell culture and tissue engineering or drug delivery. The presented SANS analysis approach has the potential to be expanded to other protein-surfactant systems and composite hydrogels.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Lassenberger
- Institut Laue-Langevin, 71 Avenue des Martyrs, 38042 Grenoble Cedex 9, France.
| | - Anne Martel
- Institut Laue-Langevin, 71 Avenue des Martyrs, 38042 Grenoble Cedex 9, France.
| | - Lionel Porcar
- Institut Laue-Langevin, 71 Avenue des Martyrs, 38042 Grenoble Cedex 9, France.
| | - Niki Baccile
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Laboratoire de Chimie de la Matière Condensée de Paris, LCMCP, Sorbonne Université, Paris F-75005, France.
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13
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Characterization of undegraded and degraded silk fibroin and its significant impact on the properties of the resulting silk biomaterials. Int J Biol Macromol 2021; 176:578-588. [PMID: 33607133 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2021.02.100] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2020] [Revised: 02/01/2021] [Accepted: 02/13/2021] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
The silk fibroin (SF) regeneration process significantly affects the resulting biomaterials, unfortunately, there has been insufficient study regarding the most suitable regeneration method for SF. In this study, we prepared undegraded SF (uSF) and degraded SF (dSF) by common regeneration methods and studied their difference in detail. The results demonstrated that the degradation degree of SF peptide chain had little influence on the secondary structure and thermal stability of SF materials. While, uSF solution showed higher viscosity and surface tension than dSF solution. The uSF membrane (uSFM) could be elongated approximately 134%, 1.6 times the degraded SF membrane (dSFM). SEM implied that both uSF and dSF existed in aqueous solution as micelles with a diameter of approximately 30 nm. dSF could directly form SF nanoparticles (dSFNPs) when poured into acetone while uSF could only form nanoparticles (uSFNP) with the addition of SDS. Glucose oxidase embedded into dSFM and dSFNP showed high catalytic activities, but uSFNP demonstrated nearly no activity. In addition, the dSFM was more appropriate for L929 cell culture. Considering the obvious difference between the two SF proteins, our results are significant in guiding the application of appropriate SF proteins in tissue engineering materials, bioactive materials, bioink, etc.
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Lv Z, Qi P, Cao L, Ling S. Structural Characterization of Silk Fibers by Wide-Angle X-Ray Scattering. Methods Mol Biol 2021; 2347:241-248. [PMID: 34472070 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-1574-4_21] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
As one of the most advanced techniques to gain insight into the structure of the materials, wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS) records the scattering information at wide angles which typically larger than 5° (2θ), where contains abundant and detailed atomic-scale structure information of the matter. To improve the intensity and time-resolution, the WAXS can be further coupled with a synchrotron light source. The resultant technique, that is, Synchrotron WAXS can reach and even surpass the spatial and time resolution of 0.1 nm and microsecond scale, respectively, thus is very suitable for characterization of animal silks both statically and quasi-dynamically. This chapter would show methods to understand the structure-property relationship of animal silks by WAXS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhuochen Lv
- School of Physical Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai, China
| | - Ping Qi
- School of Physical Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai, China
| | - Leitao Cao
- School of Physical Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai, China
| | - Shengjie Ling
- School of Physical Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai, China.
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15
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Xiao Y, Liu Y, Zhang W, Qi P, Ren J, Pei Y, Ling S. Formation, Structure, and Mechanical Performance of Silk Nanofibrils Produced by Heat-Induced Self-Assembly. Macromol Rapid Commun 2020; 42:e2000435. [PMID: 33196127 DOI: 10.1002/marc.202000435] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2020] [Revised: 09/29/2020] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
The heat-induced self-assembly of silk fibroin (SF) is studied by combing fluorescence assessment, infrared nanospectroscopy, wide-angle X-ray scattering, and Derjaguin-Muller-Toporov coupled with atomic force microscopy. Several fundamental issues regarding the formation, structure, and mechanical performance of silk nanofibrils (SNFs) under heat-induced self-assembly are discussed. Accordingly, SF in aqueous solution is rod-like in shape and not micellar. The formation of SNFs occurs through nucleation-dependent aggregation, but the assembly period is variable and irregular. SF shows inherent fractal growth, and this trend is critical for the short-term assembly. The long-term assembly of SF, however, mainly involves an elongation growth process. SNFs produced by different methods, such as ethanol treatment and heat incubation, have similar secondary structure and mechanical properties. These investigations improve the in-depth understanding of fundamental issues related to self-assembly of SNFs, and thus provide inspiration and guidance in designing of silk nanomaterials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuelong Xiao
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450001, China
| | - Yawen Liu
- School of Physical Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, 393 Middle Huaxia Road, Shanghai, 201210, China
| | - Wenwen Zhang
- School of Physical Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, 393 Middle Huaxia Road, Shanghai, 201210, China
| | - Ping Qi
- School of Physical Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, 393 Middle Huaxia Road, Shanghai, 201210, China
| | - Jing Ren
- School of Physical Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, 393 Middle Huaxia Road, Shanghai, 201210, China
| | - Ying Pei
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450001, China
| | - Shengjie Ling
- School of Physical Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, 393 Middle Huaxia Road, Shanghai, 201210, China
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16
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Yang K, Guan J, Shao Z, Ritchie RO. Mechanical properties and toughening mechanisms of natural silkworm silks and their composites. J Mech Behav Biomed Mater 2020; 110:103942. [PMID: 32957236 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmbbm.2020.103942] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2020] [Revised: 04/19/2020] [Accepted: 06/17/2020] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
There is an emerging interest in natural silkworm silks as alternative reinforcement for engineering composites. Here, we summarize the research on two common silkworm silks and silk fibre reinforced plastics (SFRPs) from the authors over the past few years in the context of related research. Silk fibres from silkworms display good strength and toughness under ambient and cryogenic conditions owing to their elastic-plastic deformation mechanism. In particular, the wild Antheraea pernyi (A. pernyi) silk also displays micro- and nano-fibrillation as an important mechanism for toughness and impact resistance. For SFRP composites, we found: (i) it is critical to achieve silk fibre volume fraction to above 50% for an optimal reinforcement and toughening effect; (ii) the tougher A. pernyi silks present a better reinforcement and toughening agent than B. mori silks; (iii) impact and toughness properties are advantageous properties of SFRPs; (iv) hybridization of natural silk with other fibres can further improve the mechanical performance and economics of SFRPs for engineering applications; and (v) the lightweight structure designs can improve the service efficiency of SFRPs for energy absorption. The understanding on the comprehensive mechanical properties and the toughening mechanisms of silks and silk fibre-reinforced polymer composites (SFRPs) could provide key insights into material design and applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kang Yang
- International Research Center for Advanced Structural and Biomaterials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, China; Biomechanics and Soft Robotics Lab, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, China
| | - Juan Guan
- International Research Center for Advanced Structural and Biomaterials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, China; Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Biomedical Engineering, Beijing, 100083, China.
| | - Zhengzhong Shao
- State Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers, Laboratory of Advanced Materials, Department of Macromolecular Science, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, China.
| | - Robert O Ritchie
- Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Department of Materials Science & Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA94720, USA.
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17
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Abstract
As a biomaterial, silk presents unique features with a combination of excellent mechanical properties, biocompatibility, and biodegradability. The biodegradability aspects of silk biomaterials, especially with options to control the rate from short (days) to long (years) time frames in vivo, make this protein-based biopolymer a good candidate for developing biodegradable devices used for tissue repairs and tissue engineering, as well as medical device implants. Silk materials, including native silk fibers and a broad spectrum of regenerated silk materials, have been investigated in vitro and in vivo to demonstrate degradation by proteolytic enzymes. In this Review, we summarize the findings on these studies on the enzymatic degradation of Bombyx mori (B. mori) silk materials. We also present a discussion on the factors that dictate the degradation properties of silk materials. Finally, in future perspectives, we highlight some key challenges and potential directions toward the future study of the degradation of silk materials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chengchen Guo
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA, 02155 USA
| | - Chunmei Li
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA, 02155 USA
| | - David L. Kaplan
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA, 02155 USA
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18
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Hong Y, Huang Y, Tang Y, Zeng W, Yu R, Lin Y, Liu XY, Wu C. Constructing dual-readout logic operations based on the silk fibroin sol-gel transition. J Mater Chem B 2020; 8:3005-3009. [PMID: 32239029 DOI: 10.1039/d0tb00375a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Inspired by an H2O2-induced chemical gelation of silk fibroin (SF) and biochemical computing, we demonstrated for the first time that the phase transformation of SF can serve as a visual output signal for constructing multiple Boolean logic operations. In our biological logic gates, three common enzymes, β-galactosidase (β-Gal), glucose oxidase (GOx) and catalase (CAT), were used as inputs and the SF state (sol or gel) was defined as an output. The designed logic gates could be observed by the naked eye and UV-Vis absorption change. Since a distinctive advantage of biocomputing is that different enzymatic reactions can take place smoothly when they work together, our logic system could be further scaled up to generate a multi-input logic network without any "crosstalk" and interference between them. We hope that such a constructed system might help us understand complex physiological processes in living systems, and have potential applications in digital bio-diagnosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yongying Hong
- Research Institute for Biomimetics and Soft Matter, Department of Physics, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory for Soft Functional Materials Research, Jiujiang Research Institute, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China.
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19
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Hu Y, Liu L, Yu J, Wang Z, Fan Y. Preparation of Silk Nanowhisker-Composited Amphoteric Cellulose/Chitin Nanofiber Membranes. Biomacromolecules 2020; 21:1625-1635. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.biomac.0c00223] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Yanlei Hu
- Jiangsu Key Lab of Biomass-Based Green Fuel and Chemicals, Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center of Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resources, Key Laboratory of Forestry Genetics & Biotechnology of Ministry of Education, College of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing Forestry University, No.159 Lonpan Road, Nanjing, 210037, Jiangsu China
| | - Liang Liu
- Jiangsu Key Lab of Biomass-Based Green Fuel and Chemicals, Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center of Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resources, Key Laboratory of Forestry Genetics & Biotechnology of Ministry of Education, College of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing Forestry University, No.159 Lonpan Road, Nanjing, 210037, Jiangsu China
| | - Juan Yu
- Jiangsu Key Lab of Biomass-Based Green Fuel and Chemicals, Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center of Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resources, Key Laboratory of Forestry Genetics & Biotechnology of Ministry of Education, College of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing Forestry University, No.159 Lonpan Road, Nanjing, 210037, Jiangsu China
| | - Zhiguo Wang
- College of Light Industry and Food Engineering, Nanjing Forestry University, No.159 Lonpan Road, Nanjing, 210037, Jiangsu China
| | - Yimin Fan
- Jiangsu Key Lab of Biomass-Based Green Fuel and Chemicals, Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center of Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resources, Key Laboratory of Forestry Genetics & Biotechnology of Ministry of Education, College of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing Forestry University, No.159 Lonpan Road, Nanjing, 210037, Jiangsu China
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20
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Pasche D, Horbelt N, Marin F, Motreuil S, Fratzl P, Harrington MJ. Self-healing silk from the sea: role of helical hierarchical structure in Pinna nobilis byssus mechanics. SOFT MATTER 2019; 15:9654-9664. [PMID: 31720677 DOI: 10.1039/c9sm01830a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
The byssus fibers of Mytilus mussel species have become an important role model in bioinspired materials research due to their impressive properties (e.g. high toughness, self-healing); however, Mytilids represent only a small subset of all byssus-producing bivalves. Recent studies have revealed that byssus from other species possess completely different protein composition and hierarchical structure. In this regard, Pinna nobilis byssus is especially interesting due to its very different morphology, function and its historical use for weaving lightweight golden fabrics, known as sea silk. P. nobilis byssus was recently discovered to be comprised of globular proteins organized into a helical protein superstructure. In this work, we investigate the relationships between this hierarchical structure and the mechanical properties of P. nobilis byssus threads, including energy dissipation and self-healing capacity. To achieve this, we performed in-depth mechanical characterization, as well as tensile testing coupled with in situ X-ray scattering. Our findings reveal that P. nobilis byssus, like Mytilus, possesses self-healing and energy damping behavior and that the initial elastic behavior of P. nobilis byssus is due to stretching and unraveling of the previously observed helical building blocks comprising the byssus. These findings have biological relevance for understanding the convergent evolution of mussel byssus for different species, and also for the field of bio-inspired materials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Delphine Pasche
- Department of Biomaterials, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Potsdam 14424, Germany
| | - Nils Horbelt
- Department of Biomaterials, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Potsdam 14424, Germany
| | - Frédéric Marin
- UMR CNRS 6282 Biogéosciences, Université de Bourgogne - Franche-Comté, Dijon 21000, France
| | - Sébastien Motreuil
- UMR CNRS 6282 Biogéosciences, Université de Bourgogne - Franche-Comté, Dijon 21000, France
| | - Peter Fratzl
- Department of Biomaterials, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Potsdam 14424, Germany
| | - Matthew J Harrington
- Department of Biomaterials, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Potsdam 14424, Germany and Department of Chemistry, McGill University, 801 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal, Quebec H3A 0B8, Canada.
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21
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Qiu W, Patil A, Hu F, Liu XY. Hierarchical Structure of Silk Materials Versus Mechanical Performance and Mesoscopic Engineering Principles. SMALL (WEINHEIM AN DER BERGSTRASSE, GERMANY) 2019; 15:e1903948. [PMID: 31657136 DOI: 10.1002/smll.201903948] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2019] [Revised: 09/27/2019] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
A comprehensive review on the five levels of hierarchical structures of silk materials and the correlation with macroscopic properties/performance of the silk materials, that is, the toughness, strain-stiffening, etc., is presented. It follows that the crystalline binding force turns out to be very important in the stabilization of silk materials, while the β-crystallite networks or nanofibrils and the interactions among helical nanofibrils are two of the most essential structural elements, which to a large extent determine the macroscopic performance of various forms of silk materials. In this context, the characteristic structural factors such as the orientation, size, and density of β-crystallites are very crucial. It is revealed that the formation of these structural elements is mainly controlled by the intermolecular nucleation of β-crystallites. Consequently, the rational design and reconstruction of silk materials can be implemented by controlling the molecular nucleation via applying sheering force and seeding (i.e., with carbon nanotubes). In general, the knowledge of the correlation between hierarchical structures and performance provides an understanding of the structural reasons behind the fascinating behaviors of silk materials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wu Qiu
- Research Institution for Biomimetics and Soft Matter, Fujian Key Provincial Laboratory for Soft Functional Materials Research, College of Physical Science and Technology & College of Materials, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, P. R. China
| | - Aniruddha Patil
- Research Institution for Biomimetics and Soft Matter, Fujian Key Provincial Laboratory for Soft Functional Materials Research, College of Physical Science and Technology & College of Materials, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, P. R. China
| | - Fan Hu
- Research Institution for Biomimetics and Soft Matter, Fujian Key Provincial Laboratory for Soft Functional Materials Research, College of Physical Science and Technology & College of Materials, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, P. R. China
- Advanced Soft Matter Group, Department of Chemical Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Van der Maasweg 9, Delft, 2629 HZ, The Netherlands
| | - Xiang Yang Liu
- Research Institution for Biomimetics and Soft Matter, Fujian Key Provincial Laboratory for Soft Functional Materials Research, College of Physical Science and Technology & College of Materials, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, P. R. China
- Department of Physics, National University of Singapore, 2 Science Drive 3, Singapore, 117542, Singapore
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22
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Abstract
Orientational dependence of the IR absorbing amide bands of silk is demonstrated from two orthogonal longitudinal and transverse microtome slices with a thickness of only ∼100 nm. Scanning near-field optical microscopy (SNOM) which preferentially probes orientation perpendicular to the sample’s surface was used. Spatial resolution of the silk–epoxy boundary was ∼100 nm resolution, while the spectra were collected by a ∼10 nm tip. Ratio of the absorbance of the amide-II C-N at 1512 cm − 1 and amide-I C=O β -sheets at 1628 cm − 1 showed sensitivity of SNOM to the molecular orientation. SNOM characterisation is complimentary to the far-field absorbance which is sensitive to the in-plane polarisation. Volumes with cross sections smaller than 100 nm can be characterised for molecular orientation. A method of absorbance measurements at four angles of the slice cut orientation, which is equivalent to the four polarisation angles absorbance measurement, is proposed.
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23
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Zhong J, Liu Y, Ren J, Tang Y, Qi Z, Zhou X, Chen X, Shao Z, Chen M, Kaplan DL, Ling S. Understanding Secondary Structures of Silk Materials via Micro- and Nano-Infrared Spectroscopies. ACS Biomater Sci Eng 2019; 5:3161-3183. [PMID: 33405510 DOI: 10.1021/acsbiomaterials.9b00305] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
The secondary structures (also termed conformations) of silk fibroin (SF) in animal silk fibers and regenerated SF materials are critical in determining mechanical performance and function of the materials. In order to understand the structure-mechanics-function relationships of silk materials, a variety of advanced infrared spectroscopic techniques, such as micro-infrared spectroscopies (micro-IR spectroscopies for short), synchrotron micro-IR spectroscopy, and nano-infrared spectroscopies (nano-IR spectroscopies for short), have been used to determine the conformations of SF in silk materials. These IR spectroscopic methods provide a useful toolkit to understand conformations and conformational transitions of SF in various silk materials with spatial resolution from the nano-scale to the micro-scale. In this Review, we first summarize progress in understanding the structure and structure-mechanics relationships of silk materials. We then discuss the state-of-the-art micro- and nano-IR spectroscopic techniques used for silk materials characterization. We also provide a systematic discussion of the strategies to collect high-quality spectra and the methods to analyze these spectra. Finally, we demonstrate the challenges and directions for future exploration of silk-based materials with IR spectroscopies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiajia Zhong
- National Facility for Protein Science in Shanghai, Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201210, China
| | - Yawen Liu
- School of Physical Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, 393 Middle Huaxia Road, Shanghai 201210, China
| | - Jing Ren
- School of Physical Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, 393 Middle Huaxia Road, Shanghai 201210, China
| | - Yuzhao Tang
- National Facility for Protein Science in Shanghai, Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201210, China
| | - Zeming Qi
- National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230029, China
| | - Xiaojie Zhou
- National Facility for Protein Science in Shanghai, Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201210, China
| | - Xin Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers, Department of Macromolecular Science, Laboratory of Advanced Materials, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China
| | - Zhengzhong Shao
- State Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers, Department of Macromolecular Science, Laboratory of Advanced Materials, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China
| | - Min Chen
- Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201210, China
| | - David L Kaplan
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155, United States
| | - Shengjie Ling
- School of Physical Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, 393 Middle Huaxia Road, Shanghai 201210, China
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24
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Ryu M, Honda R, Cernescu A, Vailionis A, Balčytis A, Vongsvivut J, Li JL, Linklater DP, Ivanova EP, Mizeikis V, Tobin MJ, Morikawa J, Juodkazis S. Nanoscale optical and structural characterisation of silk. BEILSTEIN JOURNAL OF NANOTECHNOLOGY 2019; 10:922-929. [PMID: 31165019 PMCID: PMC6541335 DOI: 10.3762/bjnano.10.93] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2018] [Accepted: 04/09/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
The nanoscale composition of silk defining its unique properties via a hierarchial structural anisotropy needs to be analysed at the highest spatial resolution of tens of nanometers corresponding to the size of fibrils made of β-sheets, which are the crystalline building blocks of silk. Nanoscale optical and structural properties of silk have been measured from 100 nm thick longitudinal slices of silk fibers with ca. 10 nm resolution, the highest so far. Optical sub-wavelength resolution in hyperspectral mapping of absorbance and molecular orientation were carried out for comparison at IR wavelengths of 2-10 μm using synchrotron radiation. A reliable distinction of transmission changes by only 1-2% as the anisotropy of amide bands was obtained from nanometer-thin slices of silk.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meguya Ryu
- Tokyo Institute of Technology, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8550, Japan
| | - Reo Honda
- Tokyo Institute of Technology, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8550, Japan
| | | | - Arturas Vailionis
- Stanford Nano Shared Facilities, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
- Department of Physics, Kaunas University of Technology, Studentu street 50, LT-51368 Kaunas, Lithuania
| | - Armandas Balčytis
- Swinburne University of Technology, John st., Hawthorn, 3122 Vic, Australia
| | - Jitraporn Vongsvivut
- Infrared Microspectroscopy Beamline, Australian Synchrotron, Clayton, Victoria 3168, Australia
| | - Jing-Liang Li
- Institute for Frontier Materials, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC 3220, Australia
| | - Denver P Linklater
- Swinburne University of Technology, John st., Hawthorn, 3122 Vic, Australia
| | - Elena P Ivanova
- School of Science, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC 3001, Australia
| | - Vygantas Mizeikis
- Research Institute of Electronics, Shizuoka University, Naka-ku, 3-5-3-1 Johoku, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka 4328561, Japan
| | - Mark J Tobin
- Infrared Microspectroscopy Beamline, Australian Synchrotron, Clayton, Victoria 3168, Australia
| | - Junko Morikawa
- Tokyo Institute of Technology, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8550, Japan
| | - Saulius Juodkazis
- Tokyo Tech World Research Hub Initiative (WRHI), School of Materials and Chemical Technology, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1, Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8550, Japan
- Melbourne Center for Nanofabrication, Australian National Fabrication Facility, Clayton 3168, Melbourne, Australia
- Swinburne University of Technology, John st., Hawthorn, 3122 Vic, Australia
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25
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Wen S, Hu Y, Zhang Y, Huang S, Zuo Y, Min Y. Dual-functional core-shell electrospun mats with precisely controlled release of anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial agents. MATERIALS SCIENCE & ENGINEERING. C, MATERIALS FOR BIOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS 2019; 100:514-522. [PMID: 30948088 DOI: 10.1016/j.msec.2019.02.076] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2018] [Revised: 02/06/2019] [Accepted: 02/20/2019] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
Acute wounds are worldwide problems affecting millions of people and causing heavy economic burden to national healthcare systems. Herein, we describe novel wound dressing materials relying on core/shell electrospun mats incorporated with flurbiprofen and vancomycin for achieving programmable release of anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial agents. The shell matrix of nanofibers consisted of polyethylene oxide while the core matrix was made from a blend of silk and collagen. Several optimal mat architectures were engineered with distinct configurations, of which release profiles displayed an exponential trend, which indicates a first-order process following Fickian diffusion behavior. The flurbiprofen release lasted from 2 to 6 days, which was much faster compared to the one of vancomycin prolonged up to about 20 days. Mechanical data indicated tensile modulus, tensile strength, elongation before break of core/shell electrospun mats became enhanced or comparable to those for human skin after methanol vapor treatment. Desirable release kinetics and mechanical characteristics achieved by novel core/shell electrospun mats were attributable to induced enrichment of β-sheet phase in silk via methanol vapor treatment as well as water annealing process with time and judicious selections for matrix materials and mat configurations. The design principles considered in this study successfully addressed a range of inflammation and infection requirements in wound healing, potentially guiding construction of other biomedical coatings and devices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shihao Wen
- Department of Polymer Engineering, University of Akron, Akron, OH 44325, USA
| | - Yupeng Hu
- Department of Polymer Engineering, University of Akron, Akron, OH 44325, USA
| | - Yuanzhong Zhang
- Department of Polymer Engineering, University of Akron, Akron, OH 44325, USA
| | - Shifeng Huang
- Department of Polymer Engineering, University of Akron, Akron, OH 44325, USA
| | - Yuchen Zuo
- Department of Polymer Engineering, University of Akron, Akron, OH 44325, USA
| | - Younjin Min
- Department of Polymer Engineering, University of Akron, Akron, OH 44325, USA.
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26
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Hu Y, Yu J, Liu L, Fan Y. Preparation of natural amphoteric silk nanofibers by acid hydrolysis. J Mater Chem B 2019; 7:1450-1459. [DOI: 10.1039/c8tb03005g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Direct extraction of silk nanofibers (SNs) from natural silk fibers was developed via a low-intensity ultrasonic-assisted sulfuric acid hydrolysis process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yanlei Hu
- Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center of Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resources
- Jiangsu Key Lab of Biomass-Based Green Fuel and Chemicals
- College of Chemical Engineering
- Nanjing Forestry University
- Nanjing 210037
| | - Juan Yu
- Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center of Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resources
- Jiangsu Key Lab of Biomass-Based Green Fuel and Chemicals
- College of Chemical Engineering
- Nanjing Forestry University
- Nanjing 210037
| | - Liang Liu
- Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center of Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resources
- Jiangsu Key Lab of Biomass-Based Green Fuel and Chemicals
- College of Chemical Engineering
- Nanjing Forestry University
- Nanjing 210037
| | - Yimin Fan
- Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center of Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resources
- Jiangsu Key Lab of Biomass-Based Green Fuel and Chemicals
- College of Chemical Engineering
- Nanjing Forestry University
- Nanjing 210037
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27
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Huang L, Huang J, Shao H, Hu X, Cao C, Fan S, Song L, Zhang Y. Silk scaffolds with gradient pore structure and improved cell infiltration performance. MATERIALS SCIENCE & ENGINEERING. C, MATERIALS FOR BIOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS 2019; 94:179-189. [DOI: 10.1016/j.msec.2018.09.034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2018] [Revised: 08/06/2018] [Accepted: 09/11/2018] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
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28
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McGill M, Holland GP, Kaplan DL. Experimental Methods for Characterizing the Secondary Structure and Thermal Properties of Silk Proteins. Macromol Rapid Commun 2019; 40:e1800390. [PMID: 30073740 PMCID: PMC6425979 DOI: 10.1002/marc.201800390] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2018] [Revised: 06/16/2018] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Silk proteins are biopolymers produced by spinning organisms that have been studied extensively for applications in materials engineering, regenerative medicine, and devices due to their high tensile strength and extensibility. This remarkable combination of mechanical properties arises from their unique semi-crystalline secondary structure and block copolymer features. The secondary structure of silks is highly sensitive to processing, and can be manipulated to achieve a wide array of material profiles. Studying the secondary structure of silks is therefore critical to understanding the relationship between structure and function, the strength and stability of silk-based materials, and the natural fiber synthesis process employed by spinning organisms. However, silks present unique challenges to structural characterization due to high-molecular-weight protein chains, repetitive sequences, and heterogeneity in intra- and interchain domain sizes. Here, experimental techniques used to study the secondary structure of silks, the information attainable from these techniques, and the limitations associated with them are reviewed. Ultimately, the appropriate utilization of a suite of techniques discussed here will enable detailed characterization of silk-based materials, from studying fundamental processing-structure-function relationships to developing commercially useful quality control assessments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meghan McGill
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, 4 Colby Street, Medford, MA 02155, USA
| | - Gregory P. Holland
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, San Diego State University, 5500 Campanile Drive, San Diego, CA 92182-1030, USA
| | - David L. Kaplan
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, 4 Colby Street, Medford, MA 02155, USA
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29
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Wang Y, Guo J, Zhou L, Ye C, Omenetto FG, Kaplan DL, Ling S. Design, Fabrication, and Function of Silk-Based Nanomaterials. ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS 2018; 28:1805305. [PMID: 32440262 PMCID: PMC7241600 DOI: 10.1002/adfm.201805305] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2018] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
Animal silks are built from pure protein components and their mechanical performance, such as strength and toughness, often exceed most engineered materials. The secret to this success is their unique nanoarchitectures that are formed through the hierarchical self-assembly of silk proteins. This natural material fabrication process in sharp contrast to the production of artificial silk materials, which usually are directly constructed as bulk structures from silk fibroin (SF) molecular. In recent years, with the aim of understanding and building better silk materials, a variety of fabrication strategies have been designed to control nanostructures of silks or to create functional materials from silk nanoscale building blocks. These emerging fabrication strategies offer an opportunity to tailor the structure of SF at the nanoscale and provide a promising route to produce structurally and functionally optimized silk nanomaterials. Here, we review the critical roles of silk nanoarchitectures on property and function of natural silk fibers, outline the strategies of utilization of these silk nanobuilding blocks, and we provide a critical summary of state of the art in the field to create silk nanoarchitectures and to generate silk-based nanocomponents. Further, such insights suggest templates to consider for other materials systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yu Wang
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, MA 02155, USA
| | - Jin Guo
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, MA 02155, USA; Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Tufts University, MA 02155, USA
| | - Liang Zhou
- Department of Material Science and Engineering, AnHui Agricultural University, Hefei 230036, China
| | - Chao Ye
- School of Physical Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai 201210, China
| | | | - David L Kaplan
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, MA 02155, USA
| | - Shengjie Ling
- School of Physical Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai 201210, China
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30
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Pereira RFP, Zehbe K, Günter C, dos Santos T, Nunes SC, Paz FAA, Silva MM, Granja PL, Taubert A, de Zea Bermudez V. Ionic Liquid-Assisted Synthesis of Mesoporous Silk Fibroin/Silica Hybrids for Biomedical Applications. ACS OMEGA 2018; 3:10811-10822. [PMID: 30320252 PMCID: PMC6173513 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.8b02051] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2018] [Accepted: 08/24/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
New mesoporous silk fibroin (SF)/silica hybrids were processed via a one-pot soft and energy-efficient sol-gel chemistry and self-assembly from a silica precursor, an acidic or basic catalyst, and the ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride, acting as both solvent and mesoporosity-inducer. The as-prepared materials were obtained as slightly transparent-opaque, amorphous monoliths, easily transformed into powders, and stable up to ca. 300 °C. Structural data suggest the formation of a hexagonal mesostructure with low range order and apparent surface areas, pore volumes, and pore radii of 205-263 m2 g-1, 0.16-0.19 cm3 g-1, and 1.2-1.6 nm, respectively. In all samples, the dominating conformation of the SF chains is the β-sheet. Cytotoxicity/bioactivity resazurin assays and fluorescence microscopy demonstrate the high viability of MC3T3 pre-osteoblasts to indirect (≥99 ± 9%) and direct (78 ± 2 to 99 ± 13%) contact with the SF/silica materials. Considering their properties and further improvements, these systems are promising candidates to be explored in bone tissue engineering. They also offer excellent prospects as electrolytes for solid-state electrochemical devices, in particular for fuel cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rui F. P. Pereira
- Chemistry
Center, University of Minho, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal
- CQ-VR and Chemistry Department, University of Trás-os-Montes
e Alto Douro, 5000-801 Vila Real, Portugal
| | - Kerstin Zehbe
- Institute
of Chemistry, University of Potsdam, Karl-Liebknecht-Straße 24-25, D-14476 Potsdam, Germany
| | - Christina Günter
- Institute
of Chemistry, University of Potsdam, Karl-Liebknecht-Straße 24-25, D-14476 Potsdam, Germany
| | - Tiago dos Santos
- i3S—Instituto de Investigação
e Inovação
em Saúde and INEB—Instituto de Engenharia Biomédica, Universidade do Porto, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal
| | - Sílvia C. Nunes
- Chemistry
Department and CICS—Health Sciences Research Centre, University of Beira Interior, 6201-001 Covilhã, Portugal
| | - Filipe A. Almeida Paz
- Chemistry
Department, University of Aveiro, CICECO-Aveiro
Institute of Materials, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
| | - Maria M. Silva
- Chemistry
Center, University of Minho, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal
| | - Pedro L. Granja
- i3S—Instituto de Investigação
e Inovação
em Saúde and INEB—Instituto de Engenharia Biomédica, Universidade do Porto, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal
- Instituto
de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar, Universidade do Porto, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal
- Faculdade
de Engenharia, Universidade
do Porto, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal
| | - Andreas Taubert
- Institute
of Chemistry, University of Potsdam, Karl-Liebknecht-Straße 24-25, D-14476 Potsdam, Germany
| | - Verónica de Zea Bermudez
- CQ-VR and Chemistry Department, University of Trás-os-Montes
e Alto Douro, 5000-801 Vila Real, Portugal
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31
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Asakura T, Tasei Y, Matsuda H, Naito A. Dynamics of Alanine Methyl Groups in Alanine Oligopeptides and Spider Dragline Silks with Different Packing Structures As Studied by 13C Solid-State NMR Relaxation. Macromolecules 2018. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.8b01402] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Tetsuo Asakura
- Department of Biotechnology, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Koganei, Tokyo 184-8588, Japan
| | - Yugo Tasei
- Department of Biotechnology, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Koganei, Tokyo 184-8588, Japan
| | - Hironori Matsuda
- Department of Biotechnology, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Koganei, Tokyo 184-8588, Japan
| | - Akira Naito
- Department of Biotechnology, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Koganei, Tokyo 184-8588, Japan
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32
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Yazawa K, Malay AD, Ifuku N, Ishii T, Masunaga H, Hikima T, Numata K. Combination of Amorphous Silk Fiber Spinning and Postspinning Crystallization for Tough Regenerated Silk Fibers. Biomacromolecules 2018; 19:2227-2237. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.biomac.8b00232] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Kenjiro Yazawa
- Biomacromolecules Research Team, RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako-shi, Saitama 351-0198, Japan
| | - Ali D. Malay
- Biomacromolecules Research Team, RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako-shi, Saitama 351-0198, Japan
| | - Nao Ifuku
- Biomacromolecules Research Team, RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako-shi, Saitama 351-0198, Japan
| | - Takaoki Ishii
- Biomacromolecules Research Team, RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako-shi, Saitama 351-0198, Japan
| | - Hiroyasu Masunaga
- Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute, 1-1-1, Kouto, Sayo-cho, Sayo-gun, Hyogo 679-5198, Japan
- Harima Institute SPring-8 Center, Research Infrastructure Group, 1-1-1, Kouto, Sayo-cho, Sayo-gun, Hyogo 679-5148, Japan
| | - Takaaki Hikima
- Harima Institute SPring-8 Center, Research Infrastructure Group, 1-1-1, Kouto, Sayo-cho, Sayo-gun, Hyogo 679-5148, Japan
| | - Keiji Numata
- Biomacromolecules Research Team, RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako-shi, Saitama 351-0198, Japan
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33
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Zhu Z, Ling S, Yeo J, Zhao S, Tozzi L, Buehler MJ, Omenetto F, Li C, Kaplan DL. High-Strength, Durable All-Silk Fibroin Hydrogels with Versatile Processability toward Multifunctional Applications. ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS 2018; 28:1704757. [PMID: 32440259 PMCID: PMC7241598 DOI: 10.1002/adfm.201704757] [Citation(s) in RCA: 94] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
Hydrogels have been the focus of extensive research due to their potential use in fields including biomedical, pharmaceutical, biosensors, and cosmetics. However, the general weak mechanical properties of hydrogels limit their utility. Here, we generate pristine silk fibroin (SF) hydrogels with excellent mechanical properties via a binary solvent induced conformation transition (BSICT) strategy. In this method, the conformational transition of SF is regulated by moderate binary solvent diffusion and SF/solvent interactions. β-sheet formation serves as the physical crosslinks that connect disparate protein chains to form continuous 3D hydrogel networks, avoiding complex chemical and/or physical treatments. The Young's modulus of these new BSICT-silk fibroin hydrogels can reach up to 6.5±0.2 MPa, tens to hundreds of times higher than that of conventional hydrogels (0.01-0.1 MPa). These new materials filled the "empty soft materials space" in the elastic modulus/strain Ashby plot. More remarkably, the BSICT-SF hydrogels can be processed into different constructions through different polymer and/or metal based processing techniques, such as molding, laser cutting, and machining. Thus, these new hydrogel systems exhibit potential utility in many biomedical and engineering fields.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhenghua Zhu
- Department of Applied Engineering, Zhejiang Institute of Economic and Trade, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, 310018, China; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USA
| | - Shengjie Ling
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USA; School of Physical Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, 393 Middle Huaxia Road, Shanghai 201210, China
| | - Jingjie Yeo
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Institute of High Performance Computing, ASTAR, 1 Fusionopolis Way, #16-16 Connexis, Singapore, 138632, Singapore
| | - Siwei Zhao
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USA
| | - Lorenzo Tozzi
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USA
| | - Markus J Buehler
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Fiorenzo Omenetto
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USA
| | - Chunmei Li
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USA
| | - David L Kaplan
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USA
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34
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Humenik M, Lang G, Scheibel T. Silk nanofibril self-assembly versus electrospinning. WILEY INTERDISCIPLINARY REVIEWS-NANOMEDICINE AND NANOBIOTECHNOLOGY 2018; 10:e1509. [PMID: 29393590 DOI: 10.1002/wnan.1509] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2017] [Revised: 10/18/2017] [Accepted: 12/19/2017] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
Abstract
Natural silk fibers represent one of the most advanced blueprints for (bio)polymer scientists, displaying highly optimized mechanical properties due to their hierarchical structures. Biotechnological production of silk proteins and implementation of advanced processing methods enabled harnessing the potential of these biopolymer not just based on the mechanical properties. In addition to fibers, diverse morphologies can be produced, such as nonwoven meshes, films, hydrogels, foams, capsules and particles. Among them, nanoscale fibrils and fibers are particularly interesting concerning medical and technical applications due to their biocompatibility, environmental and mechanical robustness as well as high surface-to-volume ratio. Therefore, we introduce here self-assembly of silk proteins into hierarchically organized structures such as supramolecular nanofibrils and fabricated materials based thereon. As an alternative to self-assembly, we also present electrospinning a technique to produce nanofibers and nanofibrous mats. Accordingly, we introduce a broad range of silk-based dopes, used in self-assembly and electrospinning: natural silk proteins originating from natural spinning glands, natural silk protein solutions reconstituted from fibers, engineered recombinant silk proteins designed from natural blueprints, genetic fusions of recombinant silk proteins with other structural or functional peptides and moieties, as well as hybrids of recombinant silk proteins chemically conjugated with nonproteinaceous biotic or abiotic molecules. We highlight the advantages but also point out drawbacks of each particular production route. The scope includes studies of the natural self-assembly mechanism during natural silk spinning, production of silk fibrils as new nanostructured non-native scaffolds allowing dynamic morphological switches, as well as studying potential applications. This article is categorized under: Biology-Inspired Nanomaterials > Peptide-Based Structures Nanotechnology Approaches to Biology > Nanoscale Systems in Biology Biology-Inspired Nanomaterials > Protein and Virus-Based Structures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin Humenik
- Biomaterials, Faculty of Engineering Science, University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany
| | - Gregor Lang
- Biomaterials, Faculty of Engineering Science, University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany
| | - Thomas Scheibel
- Biomaterials, Faculty of Engineering Science, University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany.,Bayreuth Center for Colloids and Interfaces (BZKG), Research Center Bio-Macromolecules (BIOmac), Bayreuth Center for Molecular Biosciences (BZMB), Bayreuth Center for Material Science (BayMAT), Bavarian Polymer Institute (BPI), Universität Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany
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35
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Yoshioka T, Takasu Y, Sezutsu H, Kameda T. Genome Editing Advances the Structural Study of Silk. ACS Biomater Sci Eng 2018; 4:832-835. [DOI: 10.1021/acsbiomaterials.8b00043] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
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36
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Cho SY, Yun YS, Jang D, Jeon JW, Kim BH, Lee S, Jin HJ. Ultra strong pyroprotein fibres with long-range ordering. Nat Commun 2017; 8:74. [PMID: 28706182 PMCID: PMC5509745 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-00132-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2017] [Accepted: 05/30/2017] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Silks are protein-based natural structured materials with an unusual combination of high strength and elongation. Their unique microstructural features composed of hard β-sheet crystals aligned within a soft amorphous region lead to the robust properties of silks. Herein we report a large enhancement in the intrinsic properties of silk through the transformation of the basic building blocks into a poly-hexagonal carbon structure by a simple heat treatment with axial stretching. The carbon clusters originating from the β-sheet retain the preferred orientation along the fibre axis, resulting in a long-range-ordered graphitic structure by increasing heat-treatment temperatures and leading improvements in mechanical properties with a maximum strength and modulus up to ∼2.6 and ∼470 GPa, respectively, almost four and thirty times surpassing those of raw silk. Moreover, the formation of sp 2 carbon configurations induce a significant change in the electrical properties (e.g. an electrical conductivity up to 4.37 × 103 S cm-1).The mechanical properties of silk are determined by tight stacks of sheet-like peptide crystals distributed in amorphous regions. Here, the authors heat and stretch silk fibres to align these crystal into a long range ordered carbon structure and dramatically enhance the silk strength.
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Affiliation(s)
- Se Youn Cho
- Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, Inha University, Incheon, 402-751, Korea
| | - Young Soo Yun
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Kangwon National University, Samcheok, 245-711, Korea
| | - Dawon Jang
- Carbon Composite Materials Research Center, Institute of Advanced Composite Materials, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, 92 Chudong-ro, Bongdong-eup, Wanju-gun, Jeollabuk-do, 55324, Republic of Korea
- Department of Nano Material Engineering, Korea University of Science and Technology, 217 Gajeong-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34113, Republic of Korea
| | - Jun Woo Jeon
- Department of Physics, Incheon National University, Incheon, 406-772, South Korea
| | - Byung Hoon Kim
- Department of Physics, Incheon National University, Incheon, 406-772, South Korea
| | - Sungho Lee
- Carbon Composite Materials Research Center, Institute of Advanced Composite Materials, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, 92 Chudong-ro, Bongdong-eup, Wanju-gun, Jeollabuk-do, 55324, Republic of Korea
- Department of Nano Material Engineering, Korea University of Science and Technology, 217 Gajeong-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34113, Republic of Korea
| | - Hyoung-Joon Jin
- Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, Inha University, Incheon, 402-751, Korea.
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37
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Fang G, Tang Y, Qi Z, Yao J, Shao Z, Chen X. Precise correlation of macroscopic mechanical properties and microscopic structures of animal silks—using Antheraea pernyi silkworm silk as an example. J Mater Chem B 2017; 5:6042-6048. [DOI: 10.1039/c7tb01638g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
The structure of wild silkworm silk can be controlled by reeling rate, thus regulating its mechanical performance from close to spider dragline silk to domestic silkworm silk.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guangqiang Fang
- State Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers
- Collaborative Innovation Centre of Polymers and Polymer Composite Materials
- Department of Macromolecular Science
- Laboratory of Advanced Materials
- Fudan University
| | - Yuzhao Tang
- National Centre for Protein Science Shanghai
- Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology
- Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences
- Chinese Academy of Sciences
- Shanghai
| | - Zeming Qi
- National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory
- University of Science and Technology of China
- Hefei
- People's Republic of China
| | - Jinrong Yao
- State Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers
- Collaborative Innovation Centre of Polymers and Polymer Composite Materials
- Department of Macromolecular Science
- Laboratory of Advanced Materials
- Fudan University
| | - Zhengzhong Shao
- State Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers
- Collaborative Innovation Centre of Polymers and Polymer Composite Materials
- Department of Macromolecular Science
- Laboratory of Advanced Materials
- Fudan University
| | - Xin Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers
- Collaborative Innovation Centre of Polymers and Polymer Composite Materials
- Department of Macromolecular Science
- Laboratory of Advanced Materials
- Fudan University
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38
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Partlow BP, Bagheri M, Harden JL, Kaplan DL. Tyrosine Templating in the Self-Assembly and Crystallization of Silk Fibroin. Biomacromolecules 2016; 17:3570-3579. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.biomac.6b01086] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin P. Partlow
- Department
of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, 4 Colby Street Medford, Massachusetts 02155, United States
| | - Mehran Bagheri
- Department
of Physics, University of Ottawa, 338L MacDonald Hall, 150 Louis Pasteur Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6N5, Canada
| | - James L. Harden
- Department
of Physics, University of Ottawa, 338L MacDonald Hall, 150 Louis Pasteur Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6N5, Canada
| | - David L. Kaplan
- Department
of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, 4 Colby Street Medford, Massachusetts 02155, United States
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39
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Fang G, Huang Y, Tang Y, Qi Z, Yao J, Shao Z, Chen X. Insights into Silk Formation Process: Correlation of Mechanical Properties and Structural Evolution during Artificial Spinning of Silk Fibers. ACS Biomater Sci Eng 2016; 2:1992-2000. [DOI: 10.1021/acsbiomaterials.6b00392] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Yuzhao Tang
- National
Centre for Protein Science−Shanghai, Institute of Biochemistry
and Cell Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201210, People’s Republic of China
| | - Zeming Qi
- National
Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230029, People’s Republic of China
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40
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Malay AD, Sato R, Yazawa K, Watanabe H, Ifuku N, Masunaga H, Hikima T, Guan J, Mandal BB, Damrongsakkul S, Numata K. Relationships between physical properties and sequence in silkworm silks. Sci Rep 2016; 6:27573. [PMID: 27279149 PMCID: PMC4899792 DOI: 10.1038/srep27573] [Citation(s) in RCA: 97] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2016] [Accepted: 05/23/2016] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Silk has attracted widespread attention due to its superlative material properties and promising applications. However, the determinants behind the variations in material properties among different types of silk are not well understood. We analysed the physical properties of silk samples from a variety of silkmoth cocoons, including domesticated Bombyx mori varieties and several species from Saturniidae. Tensile deformation tests, thermal analyses, and investigations on crystalline structure and orientation of the fibres were performed. The results showed that saturniid silks produce more highly-defined structural transitions compared to B. mori, as seen in the yielding and strain hardening events during tensile deformation and in the changes observed during thermal analyses. These observations were analysed in terms of the constituent fibroin sequences, which in B. mori are predicted to produce heterogeneous structures, whereas the strictly modular repeats of the saturniid sequences are hypothesized to produce structures that respond in a concerted manner. Within saturniid fibroins, thermal stability was found to correlate with the abundance of poly-alanine residues, whereas differences in fibre extensibility can be related to varying ratios of GGX motifs versus bulky hydrophobic residues in the amorphous phase.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ali D. Malay
- Enzyme Research Team, RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako-shi, Saitama 351-0198, Japan
| | - Ryota Sato
- Enzyme Research Team, RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako-shi, Saitama 351-0198, Japan
| | - Kenjiro Yazawa
- Enzyme Research Team, RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako-shi, Saitama 351-0198, Japan
| | - Hiroe Watanabe
- Enzyme Research Team, RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako-shi, Saitama 351-0198, Japan
| | - Nao Ifuku
- Enzyme Research Team, RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako-shi, Saitama 351-0198, Japan
| | - Hiroyasu Masunaga
- Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute, 1-1-1, Kouto, Sayo-cho, Sayo-gun, Hyogo 679-5198, Japan
| | - Takaaki Hikima
- RIKEN SPring-8 Center, 1-1-1 Kouto, Sayo-cho, Sayo-gun, Hyogo 679-5198, Japan
| | - Juan Guan
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Beihang University, 37 Xueyuan Road, Beijing, 100191, China
| | - Biman B. Mandal
- Biomaterial and Tissue Engineering Laboratory, Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (IITG), Guwahati, 781039, India
| | - Siriporn Damrongsakkul
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, 10330, Thailand
| | - Keiji Numata
- Enzyme Research Team, RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako-shi, Saitama 351-0198, Japan
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41
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Fang G, Sapru S, Behera S, Yao J, Shao Z, Kundu SC, Chen X. Exploration of the tight structural-mechanical relationship in mulberry and non-mulberry silkworm silks. J Mater Chem B 2016; 4:4337-4347. [PMID: 32263416 DOI: 10.1039/c6tb01049k] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
The Bombyx mori silkworm is well known as it has been bred by our ancestors with mulberry tree leaves for thousands of years. However, Bombyx mori is not the only silkworm that can produce silk, many other kinds of silkworms can also make silks for commercial use. In this research, we compare the mechanical properties of five different commercial silk fibres including domesticated mulberry Bombyx mori, non-mulberry semi-domesticated eri Samia ricini, and wild tropical tasar Antheraea mylitta and muga Antheraea assamensis. The results demonstrate that the non-mulberry silk fibres have a relatively high extensibility as compared to the mulberry silk fibres. In the meantime, the non-mulberry silk fibres show comparatively unique toughness to the mulberry silk fibres. Synchrotron radiation FTIR microspectroscopy, synchrotron radiation wide angle X-ray diffraction, and Raman dichroism spectroscopy are used to analyze the structural differences among the five species of silk fibres comprehensively. The results clearly show that the mechanical properties of both mulberry and non-mulberry silk fibres are closely related to their structures, such as β-sheet content, crystallinity, and the molecular orientation along the fibre axis. This study aims to understand the differences in the structural and mechanical properties of different mulberry and non-mulberry silk fibres, which are of importance to the related research on understanding and utilizing the non-mulberry silk as a biomaterial. We believe these investigations not only provide insight into the biology of silk fibroins from the non-mulberry silkworms but also offer guidelines for further biomimetic investigations into the design and manufacture of artificial silk protein fibres with novel morphologies and associated material properties for future use in different fields like bioelectronics, biomaterials and biomedical devices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guangqiang Fang
- State Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers, Collaborative Innovation Center of Polymers and Polymer Composite Materials, Department of Macromolecular Science, Laboratory of Advanced Materials, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, People's Republic of China.
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42
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Yoshioka T, Tashiro K, Ohta N. Molecular Orientation Enhancement of Silk by the Hot-Stretching-Induced Transition from α-Helix-HFIP Complex to β-Sheet. Biomacromolecules 2016; 17:1437-48. [PMID: 26974170 DOI: 10.1021/acs.biomac.6b00043] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Enhancing the molecular orientation of the regenerated silk fibroin (RF) up to a level comparable to the native silk is highly challenging. Our novel and promising strategy for the poststretching process is (1) creating at first an α-helix-HFIP complex with a hexagonal packing as an intermediate state and then (2) stretching it at a high temperature to induce the helix-to-sheet structural phase transition. Here we show for the first time the significantly high stretching efficiency of the proposed technique compared with the conventional wet-stretching techniques and the successful achievement of higher crystalline orientation and higher Young's modulus compared even with the native silk. The detailed structural analysis based on the time-resolved simultaneous measurement of stress-strain curve, synchrotron X-ray scatterings, and FTIR has revealed the structural transition mechanism from the hexagonally packed α-helix-HFIP complex to the highly oriented β-sheet crystalline state as well as the critical level of crystal orientation needed for the helix-to-sheet transition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Taiyo Yoshioka
- Department of Future Industry-oriented Basic Science and Materials, Graduate School of Engineering, Toyota Technological Institute , Tempaku, Nagoya 468-8511, Japan
| | - Kohji Tashiro
- Department of Future Industry-oriented Basic Science and Materials, Graduate School of Engineering, Toyota Technological Institute , Tempaku, Nagoya 468-8511, Japan
| | - Noboru Ohta
- Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute , 1-1 Koto, Mikazuki-cho, Sayo-gun, Hyogo 679-5198, Japan
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43
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Tao Y, Hasan A, Deeb G, Hu C, Han H. Rheological and Mechanical Behavior of Silk Fibroin Reinforced Waterborne Polyurethane. Polymers (Basel) 2016; 8:E94. [PMID: 30979186 PMCID: PMC6432601 DOI: 10.3390/polym8030094] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2015] [Revised: 03/01/2016] [Accepted: 03/03/2016] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Waterborne polyurethane (WPU) is a versatile and environment-friendly material with growing applications in both industry and academia. Silk fibroin (SF) is an attractive material known for its structural, biological and hemocompatible properties. The SF reinforced waterborne polyurethane (WPU) is a promising scaffold material for tissue engineering applications. In this work, we report synthesis and characterization of a novel nanocomposite using SF reinforced WPU. The rheological behaviors of WPU and WPU-SF dispersions with different solid contents were investigated with steady shear and dynamic oscillatory tests to evaluate the formation of the cross-linked gel structure. The average particle size and the zeta potential of WPU-SF dispersions with different SF content were examined at 25 °C to investigate the interaction between SF and WPU. FTIR, SEM, TEM and tensile testing were performed to study the effects of SF content on the structural morphology and mechanical properties of the resultant composite films. Experimental results revealed formation of gel network in the WPU dispersions at solid contents more than 17 wt %. The conjugate reaction between the WPU and SF as well as the hydrogen bond between them helped in dispersing the SF powder into the WPU matrix as small aggregates. Addition of SF to the WPU also improved the Young's modulus from 0.30 to 3.91 MPa, tensile strength from 0.56 to 8.94 MPa, and elongation at break from 1067% to 2480%, as SF was increased up to 5 wt %. Thus, significant strengthening and toughening can be achieved by introducing SF powder into the WPU formulations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yongzhen Tao
- Key Laboratory of Green Processing and Functional Textiles of New Textile Materials, Ministry of Education, Wuhan Textile University, Wuhan 430073, China.
| | - Anwarul Hasan
- Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, College of Engineering, Qatar University, Doha 2713, Qatar.
- Biomedical Engineering, and Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, American University of Beirut, Beirut 1107 2020, Lebanon.
- Biomaterials Innovation Research Center, Division of Biomedical Engineering, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
- Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
| | - George Deeb
- Biomedical Engineering, and Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, American University of Beirut, Beirut 1107 2020, Lebanon.
| | - Changkai Hu
- Key Laboratory of Green Processing and Functional Textiles of New Textile Materials, Ministry of Education, Wuhan Textile University, Wuhan 430073, China.
| | - Huipeng Han
- Key Laboratory of Green Processing and Functional Textiles of New Textile Materials, Ministry of Education, Wuhan Textile University, Wuhan 430073, China.
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44
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Koh LD, Cheng Y, Teng CP, Khin YW, Loh XJ, Tee SY, Low M, Ye E, Yu HD, Zhang YW, Han MY. Structures, mechanical properties and applications of silk fibroin materials. Prog Polym Sci 2015. [DOI: 10.1016/j.progpolymsci.2015.02.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 608] [Impact Index Per Article: 67.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
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45
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Cho SY, Yun YS, Lee S, Jang D, Park KY, Kim JK, Kim BH, Kang K, Kaplan DL, Jin HJ. Carbonization of a stable β-sheet-rich silk protein into a pseudographitic pyroprotein. Nat Commun 2015; 6:7145. [PMID: 25990218 PMCID: PMC4455128 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms8145] [Citation(s) in RCA: 98] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2015] [Accepted: 04/09/2015] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Silk proteins are of great interest to the scientific community owing to their unique mechanical properties and interesting biological functionality. In addition, the silk proteins are not burned out following heating, rather they are transformed into a carbonaceous solid, pyroprotein; several studies have identified potential carbon precursors for state-of-the-art technologies. However, no mechanism for the carbonization of proteins has yet been reported. Here we examine the structural and chemical changes of silk proteins systematically at temperatures above the onset of thermal degradation. We find that the β-sheet structure is transformed into an sp(2)-hybridized carbon hexagonal structure by simple heating to 350 °C. The pseudographitic crystalline layers grew to form highly ordered graphitic structures following further heating to 2,800 °C. Our results provide a mechanism for the thermal transition of the protein and demonstrate a potential strategy for designing pyroproteins using a clean system with a catalyst-free aqueous wet process for in vivo applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Se Youn Cho
- Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, Inha University, Incheon 402-751, Korea
| | - Young Soo Yun
- Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, Inha University, Incheon 402-751, Korea
| | - Sungho Lee
- Carbon Convergence Materials Research Center, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, San 101 Enha-ri, Bongdong-eup, Wanju-gun 565-905, Korea
- Department of Nano Material Engineering, Korea University of Science and Technology, 217 Gajeong-ro, Yusung-gu, Daejeon 305-350, Korea
| | - Dawon Jang
- Carbon Convergence Materials Research Center, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, San 101 Enha-ri, Bongdong-eup, Wanju-gun 565-905, Korea
- Department of Nano Material Engineering, Korea University of Science and Technology, 217 Gajeong-ro, Yusung-gu, Daejeon 305-350, Korea
| | - Kyu-Young Park
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742, Korea
| | - Jae Kyung Kim
- Department of Physics, Incheon National University, Incheon 406-772, Korea
| | - Byung Hoon Kim
- Department of Physics, Incheon National University, Incheon 406-772, Korea
| | - Kisuk Kang
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742, Korea
| | - David L. Kaplan
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155, US
| | - Hyoung-Joon Jin
- Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, Inha University, Incheon 402-751, Korea
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46
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Fang G, Zheng Z, Yao J, Chen M, Tang Y, Zhong J, Qi Z, Li Z, Shao Z, Chen X. Tough protein-carbon nanotube hybrid fibers comparable to natural spider silks. J Mater Chem B 2015; 3:3940-3947. [PMID: 32262616 DOI: 10.1039/c5tb00448a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Animal silks, especially spider dragline silks, have an excellent portfolio of mechanical properties, but it is still a challenge to obtain artificial silk fibers with similar properties to the natural ones. In this paper, we show how to extrude tough regenerated silk fibers by adding a small amount of commercially available functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes (less than 1%) through an environmentally friendly wet-spinning process reported by this laboratory previously. Most of the resulting regenerated silk fibers exhibited a breaking energy beyond 130 MJ m-3, which is comparable to spider dragline silks (∼160 MJ m-3). The best of these fibers in terms of performance show a breaking stress of 0.42 GPa, breaking strain of 59%, and breaking energy of 186 MJ m-3. In addition, we used several advanced characterization techniques, such as synchrotron radiation FTIR microspectroscopy and synchrotron radiation X-ray diffraction, to reveal the toughening mechanism in such a protein-inorganic hybrid system. We believe our attempt to produce such tough protein-based hybrid fibers by using cheap, abundant and sustainable regenerated silkworm protein and commercially available functionalized carbon nanotubes, with simplified industrial wet-spinning apparatus, may open up a practical way for the industrial production of super-tough fiber materials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guangqiang Fang
- State Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers, Collaborative Innovation Center of Polymers and Polymer Composite Materials, Department of Macromolecular Science, Laboratory of Advanced Materials, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, People's Republic of China.
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47
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Asakura T, Okushita K, Williamson MP. Analysis of the Structure of Bombyx mori Silk Fibroin by NMR. Macromolecules 2015. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.5b00160] [Citation(s) in RCA: 134] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Tetsuo Asakura
- Department
of Biotechnology, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Koganei, Tokyo 184-8588, Japan
- Institute for
Molecular Science, 38 Nishigo-Naka, Myodaiji, Okazaki 444-8585, Japan
| | - Keiko Okushita
- Department
of Biotechnology, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Koganei, Tokyo 184-8588, Japan
| | - Mike P. Williamson
- Department
of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, University of Sheffield, Firth Court,
Western Bank, Sheffield S10 2TN, U.K
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48
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Zhou J, Zhang B, Shi L, Zhong J, Zhu J, Yan J, Wang P, Cao C, He D. Regenerated silk fibroin films with controllable nanostructure size and secondary structure for drug delivery. ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES 2014; 6:21813-21821. [PMID: 25536875 DOI: 10.1021/am502278b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
The ability of drug release from SF materials was governed largely by their secondary structure. It is known that the breakage degree of the peptide chain during the silk fibroin (SF) dissolution can affect the structure, property, and applications of SF materials. To deeply understand this effect, we designed a reaction system based on CaCl2/H2O/C2H5OH ternary solvent with different ethanol content to obtain the regenerated SF films with different morphologies and secondary structures. The results showed that the globule-like nanostructure was observed in all regenerated SF films, and their size decreased significantly with reducing the ethanol content in the solvent. Correspondingly, the β-sheet structure content of the SF films increased. In addition, the contact angle and the elongation ratio increased, and water absorption decreased significantly with decreasing the ethanol content in the solvent. The accumulated release percents of doxorubicin from these SF films were significantly different with increasing the time. With smaller nanostructure size and more β-sheet content, the SF films had a slower drug release at the beginning. This study indicated the importance of the ethanol content in the solvent in controlling the structure and properties of the regenerated SF films, which would improve the application of SF in drug delivery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juan Zhou
- National Engineering Research Center for Nanotechnology, Shanghai 200241, People's Republic of China
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49
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Humenik M, Scheibel T. Self-assembly of nucleic acids, silk and hybrid materials thereof. JOURNAL OF PHYSICS. CONDENSED MATTER : AN INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS JOURNAL 2014; 26:503102. [PMID: 25419786 DOI: 10.1088/0953-8984/26/50/503102] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
Top-down approaches based on etching techniques have almost reached their limits in terms of dimension. Therefore, novel assembly strategies and types of nanomaterials are required to allow technological advances. Self-assembly processes independent of external energy sources and unlimited in dimensional scaling have become a very promising approach. Here,we highlight recent developments in self-assembled DNA-polymer, silk-polymer and silk-DNA hybrids as promising materials with biotic and abiotic moieties for constructing complex hierarchical materials in ‘bottom-up’ approaches. DNA block copolymers assemble into nanostructures typically exposing a DNA corona which allows functionalization, labeling and higher levels of organization due to its specific addressable recognition properties. In contrast, self-assembly of natural silk proteins as well as their recombinant variants yields mechanically stable β-sheet rich nanostructures. The combination of silk with abiotic polymers gains hybrid materials with new functionalities. Together, the precision of DNA hybridization and robustness of silk fibrillar structures combine in novel conjugates enable processing of higher-order structures with nanoscale architecture and programmable functions.
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50
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Cheng Y, Koh LD, Li D, Ji B, Han MY, Zhang YW. On the strength of β-sheet crystallites of Bombyx mori silk fibroin. J R Soc Interface 2014; 11:20140305. [PMID: 24789564 PMCID: PMC4032545 DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2014.0305] [Citation(s) in RCA: 84] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2014] [Accepted: 04/08/2014] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Silk fibroin, a natural multi-domain protein, has attracted great attention due to its superior mechanical properties such as ultra-high strength and stretchability, biocompatibility, as well as its versatile biodegradability and processability. It is mainly composed of β-sheet crystallites and amorphous domains. Although its strength is well known to be controlled by the dissociation of protein chains from β-sheet crystallites, the way that water as the solvent affects its strength and the reason that its theoretically predicted strength is several times higher than experimental measurement remain unclear. We perform all-atom molecular dynamics simulations on a β-sheet crystallite of Bombyx mori silk. We find that water solvent reduces the number and strength of hydrogen bonds between β-chains, and thus greatly weakens the strength of silk fibroin. By dissociating protein chains at different locations from the crystallite, we also find that the pulling strength for the interior chains is several times higher than that for the surface/corner chains, with the former being consistent with the theoretically predicted value, while the latter on par with the experimental value. It is shown that the weakest rupture strength controls the failure strength of silk fibre. Hence, this work sheds light on the role of water in the strength of silk fibroin and also provides clues on the origin of the strength difference between theory and experiment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuan Cheng
- Institute of High Performance Computing, A*STAR, Singapore 138632, Republic of Singapore
| | - Leng-Duei Koh
- Institute of Materials Research and Engineering, A*STAR, Singapore 117602, Republic of Singapore
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117576, Republic of Singapore
| | - Dechang Li
- Biomechanics and Biomaterials Laboratory, Department of Applied Mechanics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, People's Republic of China
| | - Baohua Ji
- Biomechanics and Biomaterials Laboratory, Department of Applied Mechanics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, People's Republic of China
| | - Ming-Yong Han
- Institute of Materials Research and Engineering, A*STAR, Singapore 117602, Republic of Singapore
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117576, Republic of Singapore
| | - Yong-Wei Zhang
- Institute of High Performance Computing, A*STAR, Singapore 138632, Republic of Singapore
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