title: Spider silk gut: development and characterization of a novel strong spider silk fiber.
abstract: Spider silk fibers were produced through an alternative processing route that differs widely from natural spinning. The process follows a procedure traditionally used to obtain fibers directly from the glands of silkworms and requires exposure to an acid environment and subsequent stretching. The microstructure and mechanical behavior of the so-called spider silk gut fibers can be tailored to concur with those observed in naturally spun spider silk, except for effects related with the much larger cross-sectional area of the former. In particular spider silk gut has a proper ground state to which the material can revert independently from its previous loading history by supercontraction. A larger cross-sectional area implies that spider silk gut outperforms the natural material in terms of the loads that the fiber can sustain. This property suggests that it could substitute conventional spider silk fibers in some intended uses, such as sutures and scaffolds in tissue engineering.
authors.affiliation: 1] College of Life Sciences, Jinggangshan University, Jiangxi Province, Ji'an. 343009, China [2] Centro de Tecnología Biomédica. Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. 28223 Pozuelo de Alarcón (Madrid). Spain.
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: 1] Centro de Tecnología Biomédica. Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. 28223 Pozuelo de Alarcón (Madrid). Spain [2] Departamento de Ciencia de Materiales. ETSI Caminos, Canales y Puertos. Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. 28040. Madrid. Spain.
authors.forename: Núria
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Marí-Buyé
authors.affiliation: 1] Centro de Tecnología Biomédica. Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. 28223 Pozuelo de Alarcón (Madrid). Spain [2] Departamento de Ciencia de Materiales. ETSI Caminos, Canales y Puertos. Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. 28040. Madrid. Spain.
authors.forename: Rodrigo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Madurga
authors.affiliation: 1] Centro de Tecnología Biomédica. Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. 28223 Pozuelo de Alarcón (Madrid). Spain [2] Departamento de Ciencia de Materiales. ETSI Caminos, Canales y Puertos. Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. 28040. Madrid. Spain.
authors.forename: María
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arroyo-Hernández
authors.affiliation: 1] Centro de Tecnología Biomédica. Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. 28223 Pozuelo de Alarcón (Madrid). Spain [2] Departamento de Ciencia de Materiales. ETSI Caminos, Canales y Puertos. Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. 28040. Madrid. Spain.
authors.forename: Concepción
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Solanas
authors.affiliation: Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros. Universidad de Sevilla. 41092. Sevilla. Spain.
authors.forename: Alfonso
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gañán
authors.affiliation: 1] Centro de Tecnología Biomédica. Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. 28223 Pozuelo de Alarcón (Madrid). Spain [2] Departamento de Ciencia de Materiales. ETSI Caminos, Canales y Puertos. Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. 28040. Madrid. Spain.
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Daza
authors.affiliation: 1] Centro de Tecnología Biomédica. Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. 28223 Pozuelo de Alarcón (Madrid). Spain [2] Departamento de Ciencia de Materiales. ETSI Caminos, Canales y Puertos. Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. 28040. Madrid. Spain.
authors.forename: Gustavo R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Plaza
authors.affiliation: 1] Centro de Tecnología Biomédica. Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. 28223 Pozuelo de Alarcón (Madrid). Spain [2] Departamento de Ciencia de Materiales. ETSI Caminos, Canales y Puertos. Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. 28040. Madrid. Spain.
authors.forename: Gustavo V
authors.initials: GV
authors.lastname: Guinea
authors.affiliation: 1] Centro de Tecnología Biomédica. Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. 28223 Pozuelo de Alarcón (Madrid). Spain [2] Departamento de Ciencia de Materiales. ETSI Caminos, Canales y Puertos. Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. 28040. Madrid. Spain.
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Elices
authors.affiliation: Instituto Murciano de Investigación y Desarrollo Agrario y Alimentario. 30150 La Alberca (Murcia). Spain.
authors.forename: José Luis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Cenis
authors.affiliation: 1] Centro de Tecnología Biomédica. Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. 28223 Pozuelo de Alarcón (Madrid). Spain [2] Departamento de Ciencia de Materiales. ETSI Caminos, Canales y Puertos. Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. 28040. Madrid. Spain.
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pérez-Rigueiro
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D055119:Elastic Modulus; D008422:Materials Testing; D047011:Silk / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D013112:Spiders / Q000378:metabolism*; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D013718:Tensile Strength
chemical_list: D047011:Silk