Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 5
Spider Silk
Ute Slotta,* Kristina Spieß,* and Thomas Scheibel
Fakultät für Angewandte Naturwissenschaften, Lehrstuhl für Biomaterialien, Universität
Bayreuth, 95440 Bayreuth, Germany
Thomas.scheibel@uni-bayreuth.de
Silks are a class of structural proteins produced by arthropods, which
like amyloids are evolutionarily very ancient structures. Silk proteins
are produced in special glands and are stored at high concentrations
in solution known as dope until they are transformed into a solid
silk thread. The processing conditions have a great influence on the
protein structure and the mechanical properties of the final thread.
Ancient cocoon silks (used for the preservation of offspring) display
cross-β structures similar to amyloid fibrils. Spiders have evolved
other silks for task-specific applications (such as the capture of prey
or as a lifeline to escape from predators) with different mechanical
properties. The spinning process evolved in parallel, becoming more
complex. In contrast to ancient silks, more recent silks tend to display
predominantly parallel-β structures, but under distinct processing
conditions adopt amyloid-like structures.
*
Kristina Spieß and Ute Slotta contributed equally to this chapter.
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