title: Fiber formation of a synthetic spider peptide derived from Nephila clavata.
abstract: Dragline silk is a high-performance biopolymer with exceptional mechanical properties. Artificial spider dragline silk is currently prepared by a recombinant technique or chemical synthesis. However, the recombinant process is costly and large-sized synthetic peptides are needed for fiber formation. In addition, the silk fibers that are produced are much weaker than a fiber derived from a native spider. In this study, a small peptide was chemically synthesized and examined for its ability to participate in fiber formation. A short synthetic peptide derived from Nephila clavata was prepared by a solid-phase peptide method, based on a prediction using the hydrophobic parameter of each individual amino acid residue. After purification of the spider peptide, fiber formation was examined under several conditions. Fiber formation proceeded in the acidic pH range, and larger fibers were produced when organic solvents such as trifluoroethanol and acetonitrile were used at an acidic pH. Circular dichroism measurements of the spider peptide indicate that the peptide has a beta-sheet structure and that the formation of a beta-sheet structure is required for the spider peptide to undergo fiber formation.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Kinki University, 3-4-1 Kowakae, Higashi-Osaka, Osaka 577-8502, Japan. yuji@life.kindai.ac.jp
authors.forename: Yuji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hidaka
authors.forename: Ko-Ichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kontani
authors.forename: Rina
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Taniguchi
authors.forename: Masatoshi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Saiki
authors.forename: Sayoko
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yokoi
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yukuhiro
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yamaguchi
authors.forename: Mitsuhiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Miyazawa
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002942:Circular Dichroism; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D010455:Peptides / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry*; D017433:Protein Structure, Secondary; D047011:Silk / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry*; D013112:Spiders / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D010455:Peptides; D047011:Silk