Sequence-structure correlations in silk: Poly-Ala repeat of N. clavipes MaSp1 is naturally optimized at a critical length scale

Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials
Graham Bratzel, Markus J Buehler

Abstract

Spider silk is a self-assembling biopolymer that outperforms many known materials in terms of its mechanical performance despite being constructed from simple and inferior building blocks. While experimental studies have shown that the molecular structure of silk has a direct influence on the stiffness, toughness, and failure strength of silk, few molecular-level analyses of the nanostructure of silk assemblies in particular under variations of genetic sequences have been reported. Here we report atomistic-level structures of the MaSp1 protein from the Nephila Clavipes spider dragline silk sequence, obtained using an in silico approach based on replica exchange molecular dynamics (REMD) and explicit water molecular dynamics. We apply this method to study the effects of a systematic variation of the poly-alanine repeat lengths, a parameter controlled by the genetic makeup of silk, on the resulting molecular structure of silk at the nanoscale. Confirming earlier experimental and computational work, a structural analysis reveals that poly-alanine regions in silk predominantly form distinct and orderly β-sheet crystal domains while disorderly regions are formed by glycine-rich repeats that consist of 3(10)-helix type structures and...Continue Reading

References

May 5, 1982·Journal of Molecular Biology·J Kyte, R F Doolittle
Apr 1, 1995·Current Opinion in Structural Biology·C L Brooks
Feb 1, 1996·Journal of Molecular Graphics·W HumphreyK Schulten
Dec 1, 1995·Proteins·D Frishman, P Argos
Jan 1, 1997·Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology·S R Fahnestock, L A Bedzyk
May 26, 1999·International Journal of Biological Macromolecules·C L CraigN E Pierce
May 26, 1999·International Journal of Biological Macromolecules·J D van BeekB H Meier
May 26, 1999·International Journal of Biological Macromolecules·C Y HayashiR V Lewis
Jun 1, 2000·International Journal of Biological Macromolecules·D P KnightF Vollrath
Mar 30, 2001·Nature·F Vollrath, D P Knight
Oct 9, 2001·International Journal of Biological Macromolecules·C Riekel, F Vollrath
Aug 1, 2002·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·J D van BeekB H Meier
Aug 16, 2002·Nature·Zhengzhong Shao, Fritz Vollrath
Jan 28, 2003·Biophysical Journal·Young Min Rhee, Vijay S Pande
Apr 12, 2003·Nature Materials·Nathan BeckerHelen G Hansma
May 11, 2004·Biomacromolecules·Cedric DickoJohn M Kenney
Feb 25, 2005·The European Physical Journal. E, Soft Matter·D PorterZ Shao
Mar 23, 2005·Biochemistry·Alexander SponnerKlaus Weisshart
Sep 17, 2005·Science·Philip BradleyDavid Baker
Aug 29, 2006·Current Opinion in Chemical Biology·Buyong Ma, Ruth Nussinov
Sep 5, 2006·Biophysical Journal·Ning DuDaiqin Li
Feb 6, 2007·Biophysical Journal·Thierry LefèvreMichel Pézolet
Apr 26, 2008·Current Opinion in Structural Biology·Yang Zhang
May 1, 2008·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·S RammenseeA R Bausch
Jul 3, 2008·Journal of the American Chemical Society·Gregory P HollandJeffery L Yarger
Mar 12, 2009·Journal of the American Chemical Society·Naoyuki MiyashitaYuji Sugita
Dec 7, 2005·Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics : PCCP·David J Earl, Michael W Deem
Jan 5, 2010·Journal of Structural Biology·Lukas EisoldtThomas R Scheibel
Jun 4, 2010·Journal of the Royal Society, Interface·Sinan Keten, Markus J Buehler
Oct 28, 2010·ACS Nano·Mohammad NaraghiHoracio D Espinosa
Mar 1, 2011·Biophysical Journal·Murat CetinkayaFrauke Gräter
Jan 22, 2008·Soft Matter·D Porter, F Vollrath

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Citations

Oct 29, 2013·MRS Bulletin·Markus J Buehler
Aug 22, 2013·Acta Biomaterialia·Olena TokarevaDavid L Kaplan
Jun 9, 2014·Materials Science & Engineering. C, Materials for Biological Applications·Mahdi PahlevanParvez Alam
May 10, 2013·Annual Review of Biophysics·Tristan Giesa, Markus J Buehler
Dec 17, 2015·Biomacromolecules·Tristan GiesaMarkus J Buehler
Dec 26, 2012·Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials·Federico BosiaNicola M Pugno
Oct 20, 2015·Materials Science & Engineering. C, Materials for Biological Applications·Erly Sintya, Parvez Alam
Jul 12, 2016·ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering·Davoud EbrahimiMarkus J Buehler
Jul 7, 2015·Nature Communications·Paul EganSinan Keten
May 15, 2015·PloS One·Hailey R BureauRigoberto Hernandez
Aug 9, 2016·International Journal of Biological Macromolecules·Erly Sintya, Parvez Alam
Aug 4, 2015·Scientific Reports·Adarsh K GuptaJavaregowda Nagaraju
May 22, 2018·Biotechnology Journal·Ke Zheng, Shengjie Ling
Oct 31, 2018·Macromolecular Bioscience·Diego López BarreiroMarkus J Buehler
Jan 9, 2013·Advanced Materials·Steven W CranfordMarkus J Buehler
Jun 11, 2020·Molecules : a Journal of Synthetic Chemistry and Natural Product Chemistry·Tetsuo Asakura
Jan 24, 2014·Journal of Physics. Condensed Matter : an Institute of Physics Journal·Zhao QinMarkus J Buehler
Jun 11, 2020·Journal of Materials Chemistry. B, Materials for Biology and Medicine·Chenxi ZhaiJingjie Yeo
Sep 19, 2020·Advanced Materials·Shengfei ZhouMarkus J Buehler
Jan 21, 2021·ACS Nano·Jan Johansson, Anna Rising
Apr 17, 2021·Acta Biomaterialia·Yoonjung KimSungsoo Na
Jun 22, 2021·ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering·Paras VermaShashi B Pandit
Feb 11, 2019·ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering·Prerak GuptaBiman B Mandal

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Cajal Bodies & Gems

Cajal bodies or coiled bodies are dense foci of coilin protein. Gemini of Cajal bodies, or gems, are microscopically similar to Cajal bodies. It is believed that Cajal bodies play important roles in RNA processing while gems assist the Cajal bodies. Find the latest research on Cajal bodies and gems here.