Despite widespread use of silk, it remains a significant challenge to fabricate fibers with properties similar to native silk. It has recently been recognized that the key to tuning silk fiber properties lies in controlling internal structure of assembled β-sheets. We report an advance in the precise control of silk fiber formation with control of properties via microfluidic solution spinning. ...

Spider dragline silk is of practical interest because of its excellent mechanical properties. However, the structure of this material is still largely unknown. In this article, we report what we believe is a new model of the hierarchical structure of silk based on scanning electron microscope and atomic force microscope images. This hierarchical structure includes beta-sheet, polypeptide chain ...

Silk fibers have many inherent properties that are suitable for their use in biomaterials. In this study, the silk fibroin was genetically modified by including a Ca-binding sequence, [(AGSGAG)6ASEYDYDDDSDDDDEWD]2 from shell nacreous matrix protein. It can be produced as fibers by transgenic silkworm. The Ca-binding activity and mineralization of the transgenic silk fibroin were examined in vit...

Cocoon silks are composed of two silk proteins: sericin and fibroin. Fibroin is a semi crystalline polymer of natural fibrous protein mainly consisting of highly β-sheet crystals and noncrystalline part (micro voids and amorphous structures). Sericin is amorphous acting as an adhesive binder to maintain the fine filaments of fibroin core and the overall structural integrity of cocoon [1]. Silk ...

Pollinating insects utilise various sensory cues to identify and learn rewarding flower species. One such cue is floral temperature, created by captured sunlight or plant thermogenesis. Bumblebees, honeybees and stingless bees can distinguish flowers based on differences in overall temperature between flowers. We report here that floral temperature often differs between different parts of the f...

The outstanding properties of spider dragline silk are likely to be determined by a combination of the primary sequences and the secondary structure of the silk proteins. Antheraea pernyi silk has more similar sequences to spider dragline silk than the silk from its domestic counterpart, Bombyx mori. This makes it much potential as a resource for biospinning spider dragline silk. This paper fur...

Biomedical application of silk requires the removal of sericin that is the gumming material of native silk fibers. This is because sericin can elicit an adverse immune response after implantation in the human body. However, the removal of sericin causes the silk fiber to fray and weakens its structural property, making it very difficult to knit or braid them into a scaffold for ligament tissue ...

Silk fiber has gained its importance in the field of tissue engineering due to its excellent mechanical and biocompatible properties. The properties of silk fiber can be engineered for its suitable use in tissue engineering by its regeneration in the form of films or fibers. This review paper summarizes current research related to regeneration techniques for silk fiber preparation, characterist...

Introduction Scaffolds fabricated from silk have shown good osteoinduction. However, the mechanical properties were insufficient to match native bone. We previously investigated the effects of mineral incorporation (by coating as well as embedding into the silk phase) as a method to enhance mechanical properties of porous silk scaffolds for bone tissue engineering. Based on encouraging results ...

Since thousands of years humans have utilized insect silks for their own benefit and comfort. The most famous example is the use of reeled silkworm silk from Bombyx mori to produce textiles. In contrast, despite the more promising properties of their silk, spiders have not been domesticated for large-scale or even industrial applications, since farming the spiders is not commercially viable due...