Issue 18, 2010

Small angle neutron scattering of native and reconstituted silk fibroin

Abstract

Silks spun by spiders and insects are independently evolved proteinaceous biomaterials with fascinating physical properties attracting scientists from a wide range of disciplines using a wide range of analytical tools. Here we demonstrate the suitability of neutron small angle scattering (SANS) to investigate the morphology and structure of native silk fibroin at near in vivo conditions. Comparing native and reconstituted silk we observed significant differences in sizes, molecular weights, refolding and interactions. These observations question the validity of a presently widespread approach in silk analysis i.e. studying reconstituted silk with the goal to gain important insights into the mechanisms involved in the formation (storage and spinning) of native silks.

Graphical abstract: Small angle neutron scattering of native and reconstituted silk fibroin

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
15 Mar 2010
Accepted
24 Jun 2010
First published
04 Aug 2010

Soft Matter, 2010,6, 4389-4395

Small angle neutron scattering of native and reconstituted silk fibroin

I. Greving, C. Dicko, A. Terry, P. Callow and F. Vollrath, Soft Matter, 2010, 6, 4389 DOI: 10.1039/C0SM00108B

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