Influence of experimental methods on the mechanical properties of silk fibers: A systematic literature review and future road map

Spider silk fibers are of scientific and industrial interest because of their extraordinary mechanical properties. These properties are normally determined by tensile tests, but the values obtained are dependent on the morphology of the fibers, the test conditions, and the methods by which stress and strain are calculated. Because of this, results from many studies are not directly comparable, which has led to widespread misconceptions in the field. Here, we critically review most of the reports from the past 50 years on spider silk mechanical performance and use artificial spider silk and native silks as models to highlight the effect that different experimental setups have on the fibers' mechanical properties. The results clearly illustrate the importance of carefully evaluating the tensile test methods when comparing the results from different studies. Finally, we suggest a protocol for how to perform tensile tests on silk and biobased fibers.

Engineered Spider Silk Proteins for Biomimetic Spinning of Fibers with Toughness Equal to Dragline Silks

Spider silk is the toughest fiber found in nature, and bulk production of artificial spider silk that matches its mechanical properties remains elusive. Development of miniature spider silk proteins (mini-spidroins) has made large-scale fiber production economically feasible, but the fibers' mechanical properties are inferior to native silk. The spider silk fiber's tensile strength is conferred by poly-alanine stretches that are zipped together by tight side chain packing in β-sheet crystals. Spidroins are secreted so they must be void of long stretches of hydrophobic residues, since such segments get inserted into the endoplasmic reticulum membrane. At the same time, hydrophobic residues have high β-strand propensity and can mediate tight inter-β-sheet interactions, features that are attractive for generation of strong artificial silks. Protein production in prokaryotes can circumvent biological laws that spiders, being eukaryotic organisms, must obey, and the authors thus design mini-spidroins that are predicted to more avidly form stronger β-sheets than the wildtype protein. Biomimetic spinning of the engineered mini-spidroins indeed results in fibers with increased tensile strength and two fiber types display toughness equal to native dragline silks. Bioreactor expression and purification result in a protein yield of ≈9 g L^-1 which is in line with requirements for economically feasible bulk scale production.

An Image-Analysis-Based Method for the Prediction of Recombinant Protein Fiber Tensile Strength

Silk fibers derived from the cocoon of silk moths and the wide range of silks produced by spiders exhibit an array of features, such as extraordinary tensile strength, elasticity, and adhesive properties. The functional features and mechanical properties can be derived from the structural composition and organization of the silk fibers. Artificial recombinant protein fibers based on engineered spider silk proteins have been successfully made previously and represent a promising way towards the large-scale production of fibers with predesigned features. However, for the production and use of protein fibers, there is a need for reliable objective quality control procedures that could be automated and that do not destroy the fibers in the process. Furthermore, there is still a lack of understanding the specifics of how the structural composition and organization relate to the ultimate function of silk-like fibers. In this study, we develop a new method for the categorization of protein fibers that enabled a highly accurate prediction of fiber tensile strength. Based on the use of a common light microscope equipped with polarizers together with image analysis for the precise determination of fiber morphology and optical properties, this represents an easy-to-use, objective non-destructive quality control process for protein fiber manufacturing and provides further insights into the link between the supramolecular organization and mechanical functionality of protein fibers.

Enhanced detection of ATTR amyloid using a nanofibril-based assay

More than 30 proteins and peptides have been found to form amyloid fibrils in human diseases. Fibrils formed by transthyretin (TTR) are associated with ATTR amyloidosis, affecting many vital organs, including the heart and peripheral nervous system. Congo red staining is the gold standard method for detection of amyloid deposits in tissue. However, Congo red staining and amyloid typing methods such as immunofluorescence labelling are limited to relatively large deposits. Detection of small ATTR deposits present at an early stage of the disease could enable timely treatment and prevent severe tissue damage. In this study, we developed an enhanced ATTR amyloid detection method that uses functionalised protein nanofibrils. Using this method, we achieved sensitive detection of monomeric TTR in a microplate immunoassay and immunofluorescence labelling of ex vivo tissue from two patients containing ATTR aggregates. The system's utility was confirmed on sections from a patient with AA amyloidosis and liver sections from inflamed mouse. These results suggest that the detection system constitutes important new technology for highly sensitive detection of microscopic amounts of ATTR amyloid deposited in tissue.

Expression of the human molecular chaperone domain Bri2 BRICHOS on a gram per liter scale with an E. coli fed-batch culture

Background

The human Bri2 BRICHOS domain inhibits amyloid formation and toxicity and could be used as a therapeutic agent against amyloid diseases. For translation into clinical use, large quantities of correctly folded recombinant human (rh) Bri2 BRICHOS are required. To increase the expression and solubility levels of rh Bri2 BRICHOS it was fused to NT*, a solubility tag derived from the N-terminal domain of a spider silk protein, which significantly increases expression levels and solubility of target proteins. To increase the expression levels even further and reach the g/L range, which is a prerequisite for an economical production on an industrial scale, we developed a fed-batch expression protocol for Escherichia coli.

Results

A fed-batch production method for NT*-Bri2 BRICHOS was set up and systematically optimized. This gradual improvement resulted in expression levels of up to 18.8 g/L. Following expression, NT*-Bri2 BRICHOS was purified by chromatographic methods to a final yield of up to 6.5 g/L. After removal of the NT*-tag and separation into different oligomeric species, activity assays verified that different assembly states of the fed-batch produced rh Bri2 BRICHOS have the same ability to inhibit fibrillar and non-fibrillar protein aggregation as the reference protein isolated from shake flask cultures.

Conclusions

The protocol developed in this work allows the production of large quantities of rh Bri2 BRICHOS using the solubility enhancing NT*-tag as a fusion partner, which is required to effectively conduct pre-clinical research.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12934-021-01638-8.

Properties of Biomimetic Artificial Spider Silk Fibers Tuned by PostSpin Bath Incubation

Efficient production of artificial spider silk fibers with properties that match its natural counterpart has still not been achieved. Recently, a biomimetic process for spinning recombinant spider silk proteins (spidroins) was presented, in which important molecular mechanisms involved in native spider silk spinning were recapitulated. However, drawbacks of these fibers included inferior mechanical properties and problems with low resistance to aqueous environments. In this work, we show that ≥5 h incubation of the fibers, in a collection bath of 500 mM NaAc and 200 mM NaCl, at pH 5 results in fibers that do not dissolve in water or phosphate buffered saline, which implies that the fibers can be used for applications that involve wet/humid conditions. Furthermore, incubation in the collection bath improved the strain at break and was associated with increased β-sheet content, but did not affect the fiber morphology. In summary, we present a simple way to improve artificial spider silk fiber strain at break and resistance to aqueous solvents.

Coupled chemistry kinetics demonstrate the utility of functionalized Sup35 amyloid nanofibrils in biocatalytic cascades

Concerns over the environment are a central driver for designing cell-free enzymatic cascade reactions that synthesize non-petrol-based commodity compounds. An often-suggested strategy that would demonstrate the economic competitiveness of this technology is recycling of valuable enzymes through their immobilization. For this purpose, amyloid nanofibrils are an ideal scaffold to realize chemistry-free covalent enzyme immobilization on a material that offers a large surface area. However, in most instances, only single enzyme-functionalized amyloid fibrils have so far been studied. To embark on the next stage, here we displayed xylanase A, β-xylosidase, and an aldose sugar dehydrogenase on Sup35(1-61) nanofibrils to convert beechwood xylan to xylonolactone. We characterized this enzymatic cascade by measuring the time-dependent accumulation of xylose, xylooligomers, and xylonolactone. Furthermore, we studied the effects of relative enzyme concentrations, pH, temperature, and agitation on product formation. Our investigations revealed that a modular cascade with a mixture of xylanase and β-xylosidase, followed by product removal and separate oxidation of xylose with the aldose sugar dehydrogenase, is more productive than an enzyme mix containing all of these enzymes together. Moreover, we found that the nanofibril-coupled enzymes do not lose activity compared with their native state. These findings provide proof of concept of the feasibility of functionalized Sup35(1-61) fibrils as a molecular scaffold for biocatalytic cascades consisting of reusable enzymes that can be used in biotechnology.

Production of Ready-To-Use Functionalized Sup35 Nanofibrils Secreted by Komagataella pastoris

Amyloid nanofibrils are excellent scaffolds for designable materials that can be endowed with biotechnologically relevant functions. However, most of all excellent ideas and concepts that have been reported in the literature might never see real-world implementation in biotechnological applications. One bottleneck is the large-scale production of these materials. In this paper, we present an attempt to create a generic and scalable platform for producing ready-to-use functionalized nanofibrils directly from a eukaryotic organism. As a model material, we assembled Sup35(1-61) amyloid nanofibrils from Saccharomyces cerevisiae decorated with the Z-domain dimer, which has a high affinity toward antibody molecules. To this end, Komagataella pastoris was engineered by inserting gene copies of Sup35(1-61) and the protein chimera Sup35(1-61)-ZZ into the genome. This strain has the capability to constantly secrete amyloidogenic proteins into the extracellular medium, where the mature functionalized fibrils form, with a production yield of 35 mg/L culture. Another striking feature of this strategy is that the separation of the fibril material from the cells requires only centrifugation and resuspension in saline water. The fast production rates, minimal hands-on time, and high stability of the assembled material are some highlights that make the direct assembly of functionalized fibrils in the extracellular medium an alternative to production methods that are not suitable for large-scale production of designed amyloids.

The kinetics of TEM1 antibiotic degrading enzymes that are displayed on Ure2 protein nanofibrils in a flow reactor

Enzymatic functionalization of cross-β structured protein nanofibrils has hitherto resulted in a severe reduction of the catalytic efficiency of high turnover biocatalysts. It has been speculated that steric restrictions and mass transport pose limits on the attached enzymes, but detailed kinetics analyzing this have not yet been reported. For a more comprehensive understanding, we studied protein nanofibrils endowed with TEM1, a β-lactamase from Escherichia coli. The packing density of TEM1 along the fibrils was controlled by co-fibrillation; in other words, the N-terminal ureidosuccinate transporter Ure2(1–80) from Saccharomyces cerevisiae was simultaneously aggregated with the chimeric proteins TEM1-Ure2(1–80). The mature fibrils were trapped in a column, and the rate of ampicillin hydrolysis was recorded using a continuous substrate flow. The turnover rate was plotted as a function of substrate molecules available per enzyme per second, which demonstrated that an elevated substrate availability counteracts mass transport limitations. To analyze this data set, we derived a kinetic model, which makes it possible to easily characterize and compare enzymes packed in columns. The functional TEM1 nanofibrils possess 80% of the catalytic turnover rate compared to free TEM1 in solution. Altogether, we have created protein nanofibrils that can effectively hydrolyze β-lactam antibiotic contaminations and provided a groundwork strategy for other highly functional enzymatic nanofibrils.

Identification of proteins that specifically recognize and bind protofibrillar aggregates of amyloid-β

Protofibrils of the 42 amino acids long amyloid-β peptide are transient pre-fibrillar intermediates in the process of peptide aggregation into amyloid plaques and are thought to play a critical role in the pathology of Alzheimer’s disease. Hence, there is a need for research reagents and potential diagnostic reagents for detection and imaging of such aggregates. Here we describe an in vitro selection of Affibody molecules that bind to protofibrils of Aβ₄₂cc, which is a stable engineered mimic of wild type Aβ₄₂ protofibrils. Several binders were identified that bind Aβ₄₂cc protofibrils with low nanomolar affinities, and which also recognize wild type Aβ₄₂ protofibrils. Dimeric head-to-tail fusion proteins with subnanomolar binding affinities, and very slow dissociation off-rates, were also constructed. A mapping of the chemical properties of the side chains onto the Affibody scaffold surface reveals three distinct adjacent surface areas of positively charged surface, nonpolar surface and a polar surface, which presumably match a corresponding surface epitope on the protofibrils. The results demonstrate that the engineered Aβ₄₂cc is a suitable antigen for directed evolution of affinity reagents with specificity for wild type Aβ₄₂ protofibrils.

Identification of weak points of hepatitis C virus NS3 protease inhibitors using surface plasmon resonance biosensor-based interaction kinetic analysis and genetic variants

To aid the design of next generation hepatitis C virus (HCV) drugs, the kinetics of the interactions between NS3 protease inhibitors and enzyme from genotypes 1a, 1b, and 3a have been characterized. The linear mechanism-based inhibitors VX-950 (telaprevir) and SCH 503034 (boceprevir) benefited from covalent adduct formation. However, the apparent affinities were rather weak (VX-950, K(D)* of 340, 8.5, and 1000 nM for genotypes 1a, 1b and 3a, respectively; SCH 503034, K(D)* of 90 and 3.9 nM for 1b and 3a, respectively). The non-mechanism-based macrocyclic inhibitors BILN-2016 (ciluprevir) and ITMN-191 (danoprevir) had faster association and slower dissociation kinetics, indicating that rigidification is kinetically favorable. ITMN-191 had nanomolar affinities for all genotypes (K(D)* of 0.13, 1.6, and 0.52 nM), suggesting that a broad spectrum drug is conceivable. The data show that macrocyclic scaffolds and mechanism-based inhibition are advantageous but that there is considerable room for improvement of the kinetics of HCV protease targeted drugs.

Accounting for strain variations and resistance mutations in the characterization of hepatitis C NS3 protease inhibitors

CONTEXT

Natural strain variation and rapid resistance development makes development of broad spectrum hepatitis C virus (HCV) drugs very challenging and evaluation of inhibitor selectivity and resistance must account for differences in the catalytic properties of enzyme variants.

OBJECTIVE

To understand how to study selectivity and relationships between efficacy and genotype or resistant mutants for NS3 protease inhibitors.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The catalytic properties of NS3 protease from genotypes 1a, 1b and 3a, and their sensitivities to four structurally and mechanistically different NS3 protease inhibitors have been analysed under different experimental conditions.

RESULTS

The optimisation of buffer conditions for each protease variant enabled the comparison of their catalytic properties and sensitivities to the inhibitors. All inhibitors were most effective against genotype 1a protease, with VX-950 having the broadest selectivity.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

A new strategy for evaluation of inhibitors relevant for the discovery of broad spectrum HCV drugs was established.

Complications and clinical outcome of hepatic artery embolisation in patients with hereditary haemorrhagic telangiectasia

BACKGROUND

Hepatic artery embolisation (HAE) in patients with hereditary haemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT) is controversial because of the associated complications and unproven long-term benefit. We present our results in 20 such patients over a time span of 17 years.

METHODS

Staged HAE was performed using polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) particles and coils. Complications, clinical symptoms and cardiac output were assessed before and after therapy as well as at the end of follow-up (median 92 months, range 26-208 months).

RESULTS

Two patients died within 30 days following HAE (10 %). Four further deaths resulted from causes unrelated to HAE. Ischaemic cholangitis, cholecystitis and focal hepatic necrosis with biliary sepsis necessitated re-intervention in four patients. In all but one patient, clinical symptoms resolved with mean cardiac output falling from 11.84 ± 3.22 l/min pre-treatment to 8.13 ± 2.67 l/min at the end of follow-up (P < 0.001). One patient required liver transplantation for de novo symptoms of portal hypertension 4 years after primary symptoms had been cured by HAE.

CONCLUSION

The 30-day mortality of HAE in patients with HHT is 10 %. The rate of complications requiring re-intervention is 20 %. Clinical response at long-term follow-up is satisfactory.