2020/11/05
RIKEN
Kyoto University
Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST)
Institute for Advanced Biosciences, Keio University
A joint research group, including Researcher Andrés F. Arrieta and Team Leader Keiji Numata (Professor, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University) of the Biomacromolecules Research Team at the RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science, and Associate Professor Kazuharu Arakawa of the Institute for Advanced Biosciences, Keio University, has for the first time succeeded in artificially reproducing the hierarchical structure of spider dragline silk.
These research findings are expected to provide a clue for developing technology to artificially synthesize fibers that exhibit structures and physical properties similar to those of natural spider silk.
Spider dragline silk, due to its lightweight and tough properties, is expected to have applications in a wide range of fields, such as high-strength structural materials, but its spinning mechanism has not yet been clarified.
In this study, the joint research group clarified the molecular mechanism of the silk proteins that constitute spider dragline silk and showed that the silk proteins undergo a behavior called "liquid-liquid phase separation" to form a network of microscopic fibers (microfibrils). Furthermore, by applying shear stress to the microfibrils, they succeeded in reproducing a hierarchical structure similar to dragline silk, where the microfibrils are gathered into bundles.
This research was published in the online scientific journal "Science Advances" (on November 4; November 5, Japan time).
Please see below for the full press release.