With great structure comes great functionality: Understanding and emulating spider silk
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Alessandra D. Whaite Genecology Research Centre, School of Science and Engineering, University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia
Jennifer M. MacLeod
INRS – Centre Énergie, Matériaux et Télécommunications, Boulevard Lionel-Boulet, Varennes, Québec J3X 1S2, Canada
Joanne Macdonald Genecology Research Centre, School of Science and Engineering, University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia; and Division of Experimental Therapeutics, Department of Medicine, Columbia University, New York, USA
Federico Roseib)
INRS – Centre Énergie, Matériaux et Télécommunications, Boulevard Lionel-Boulet, Varennes, Québec J3X 1S2, Canada; and Center for Self-Assembled Chemical Structures, McGill University, H3A 2K6 Montreal, Quebec, Canada (Received 6 June 2014; accepted 21 October 2014)
The overarching aim of biomimetic approaches to materials synthesis is to mimic simultaneously the structure and function of a natural material, in such a way that these functional properties can be systematically tailored and optimized. In the case of synthetic spider silk fibers, to date functionalities have largely focused on mechanical properties. A rapidly expanding body of literature documents this work, building on the emerging knowledge of structure–function relationships in native spider silks, and the spinning processes used to create them. Here, we describe some of the benchmark achievements reported until now, with a focus on the last five years. Progress in protein synthesis, notably the expression on full-size spidroins, has driven substantial improvements in synthetic spider silk performance. Spinning technology, however, lags behind and is a major limiting factor in biomimetic production. We also discuss applications for synthetic silk that primarily capitalize on its nonmechanical attributes, and that exploit the remarkable range of structures that can be formed from a synthetic silk feedstock.
I. INTRODUCTION
Silk is usually associated with fibers from the larval cocoons of the silkworm Bombyx mori, which are used in a range of applications from clothing to medical sutures. Spider silks, however, have been recently rising in prominence. Unlike silkworm silk, spider silk has been evolutionally driven for mechanical performance in webs and is the toughest biological material known.1,2 The combination of impressive mechanical performance, green chemistry, biodegradability, and ambient processing conditions3,4 makes spider silk a highly desirable material for applications ranging from biomaterials to high-performance industrial fibers. Despite its clear potential, it is extremely difficult to obtain silk from spiders,5 and substantial research effort has been spent to
Address all correspondence to these authors. a) e-mail: [email protected] b) e-mail: [email protected] DOI: 10.1557/jmr.2014.365 108
J. Mater. Res., Vol. 30, No. 1, Jan 14, 2015
http://journals.cambridge.org
Downloaded: 13 Mar 2015
produce spider-like silk at commercial scales by using biomimetic approaches. While we have not yet matched the properties of spid
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