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Science 18 January 2002:
Vol. 295. no. 5554, pp. 472 - 476
DOI: 10.1126/science.1065780
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Reports

Spider Silk Fibers Spun from Soluble Recombinant Silk Produced in Mammalian Cells

Anthoula Lazaris,1* Steven Arcidiacono,2 Yue Huang,1 Jiang-Feng Zhou,1 François Duguay,1 Nathalie Chretien,1 Elizabeth A. Welsh,2 Jason W. Soares,2 Costas N. Karatzas1

Spider silks are protein-based "biopolymer" filaments or threads secreted by specialized epithelial cells as concentrated soluble precursors of highly repetitive primary sequences. Spider dragline silk is a flexible, lightweight fiber of extraordinary strength and toughness comparable to that of synthetic high-performance fibers. We sought to "biomimic" the process of spider silk production by expressing in mammalian cells the dragline silk genes (ADF-3/MaSpII and MaSpI) of two spider species. We produced soluble recombinant (rc)-dragline silk proteins with molecular masses of 60 to 140 kilodaltons. We demonstrated the wet spinning of silk monofilaments spun from a concentrated aqueous solution of soluble rc-spider silk protein (ADF-3; 60 kilodaltons) under modest shear and coagulation conditions. The spun fibers were water insoluble with a fine diameter (10 to 40 micrometers) and exhibited toughness and modulus values comparable to those of native dragline silks but with lower tenacity. Dope solutions with rc-silk protein concentrations >20% and postspinning draw were necessary to achieve improved mechanical properties of the spun fibers. Fiber properties correlated with finer fiber diameter and increased birefringence.

1 Nexia Biotechnologies, Vaudreuil-Dorion, Quebec J7V 8P5, Canada.
2 Materials Science Team, U.S. Army Soldier Biological Chemical Command, Natick, MA 01760, USA.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: alazaris{at}nexiabiotech.com

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