We used wel-defined, fluorescence-free Raman spectra of single silk fibres to study silk ultrastructure. Major ampullate (MA) silk was reeled from the Araneus diadematus spider under controlled conditions. With acustom-built stress-strain gauge, we examined the mechanical properties of this silk both before and after supercontraction in a range of solvents. The solvents were found to modify the material properties considerably. We suggest that the solvents with their different polarities affect different regions of the silk's composite microstructure, in particular the conformation of the molecular chains.

The spinning mechanism of natural silk has been an open issue. In this study, both the conformation transition from random coil to b sheet and the b sheet aggregation growth of silk fibroin are identified in the B. mori regenerated silk fibroin aqueous solution by circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy. A nucleation-dependent aggregation mechanism, similar to that found in prion protein, amyloid b (Ab) protein, and a-synuclein protein with the conformation transition from a soluble protein to a neurotoxic, insoluble b sheet containing aggregate, is a novel suggestion for the silk spinning process. We present evidence that two steps are involved in this mechanism: (a) nucleation, a ratelimiting step involving the conversion of the soluble random coil to insoluble b sheet and subsequently a series of thermodynamically unfavorable association of b sheet unit, i. e. the formation of a nucleus or seed; (b) once the nucleus forms, further growth of the b sheet unit becomes thermodynamically favorable, resulting a rapid extension of b sheet aggregation. The aggregation growth follows a first order kinetic process with respect to the random coil fibroin concentration. The increase of temperature accelerates the b sheet aggregation growth if the b sheet seed is introduced into the random coil fibroin solution. This work enhances our understanding of the natural silk spinning process in vivo.

Fluorescence and circular dichroism spectroscopy were used to monitor the conformational transition of regenerated Bombyx mori silk fibroin (RSF) in aqueous solutions under different conditions. According to the analysis of fluorescence spectra using anilinonaphthalene-8-sulfonic acid magnesium salt (ANS) as an external probe, the destruction of the hydrophobic core prior to the secondary structure change suggests that this collapse may initiate the conformational transition from random coil to β-sheet for RSF. The temperature dependence of the structural changes of RSF, detected by both fluorescence spectroscopy and circular dichroism, shows a reversible process upon heating and recooling, with the midpoint around 45℃. The results also indicate that most of the tryptophan (Trp) residues contained in silk fibroin are concentrated on the surface of the unfolded protein. However, they will change their location in the highly ordered structure (e. g., becoming more homogeneous) with the conformational transition of silk fibroin. Moreover, our studies also suggest that the presence of water plays a crucial role during the structure changes of fibroin.

We examined the mechanical characteristics of four major ampullate (MA) dragline silks during and after submersion in a range of solvents. The silks were reeled from four very different spiders: Araneus diadematus, Nephila edulis, Latrodectus mactans and Euprosthenops sp. They displayed significant differences in behaviour in the native state as well as during and after supercontraction in solvents such as water, urea solution and a set of alcohols. The different polarities of the solvents are thought to affect different regions of the silk's molecular conformation. We hypothesise that the observed mechanical properties of dragline silks are those of a hard elastic polymer; and we explain the supercontraction of the silks as changes of orientation in the molecular chains. q1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.