title: Composition and hierarchical organisation of a spider silk.
abstract: Albeit silks are fairly well understood on a molecular level, their hierarchical organisation and the full complexity of constituents in the spun fibre remain poorly defined. Here we link morphological defined structural elements in dragline silk of Nephila clavipes to their biochemical composition and physicochemical properties. Five layers of different make-ups could be distinguished. Of these only the two core layers contained the known silk proteins, but all can vitally contribute to the mechanical performance or properties of the silk fibre. Understanding the composite nature of silk and its supra-molecular organisation will open avenues in the production of high performance fibres based on artificially spun silk material.
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sponner
authors.forename: Wolfram
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Vater
authors.forename: Shamci
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Monajembashi
authors.forename: Eberhard
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Unger
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Grosse
authors.forename: Klaus
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Weisshart
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004548:Elasticity; D005349:Fibroins / Q000737:chemistry*; D006031:Glycosylation; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000737:chemistry*; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D047011:Silk / Q000378:metabolism*; D013112:Spiders; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D013718:Tensile Strength; D014783:Viscosity
chemical_list: D019476:Insect Proteins; D047011:Silk; D005349:Fibroins