Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Modelling self assembly of natural silk solutions.

F N Braun1, C Viney

  • 1Department of Biochemistry, Stockholm Bioinformatics Center, Stockholm University, 10691 Stockholm, Sweden. chefnb@sbc.su.se

International Journal of Biological Macromolecules
|September 6, 2003
PubMed
Summary

Natural silk fibroin solutions exhibit liquid crystalline order, potentially aiding in the spinning process. This order

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Towards modeling molecular cooperativity on the cellular scale.

Biophysical chemistry·2010
Same author

A physiological phase separation in airway mucus.

Biorheology·2009
Same author

Glassy arrest in colloidal fluids with size polydispersity.

The journal of physical chemistry. B·2007
Same author

Volatile diffusional character of cytoplasm.

The journal of physical chemistry. B·2006
Same author

Internal repeat variability in mucin sequences.

Biomacromolecules·2006
Same author

Salting-in the microbial cytoplasm.

FEBS letters·2006

Area of Science:

  • Biophysics
  • Materials Science
  • Evolutionary Biology

Background:

  • Natural silk fibroin solutions, particularly from spiders and silkworms, display nematic liquid crystalline order.
  • This liquid crystalline behavior is hypothesized to be crucial for the silk spinning process.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To propose an interpretation for the origin of nematic liquid crystalline order in silk fibroin.
  • To investigate the influence of physiological conditions and fibroin amino acid sequence on the liquid crystalline phase diagram.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of the liquid crystalline phase diagram of silk fibroin solutions.
  • Examination of the response to equilibrium physiological conditions.
  • Assessment of parameters related to the fibroin amino acid sequence.

Main Results:

  • The liquid crystalline phase diagram is sensitive to physiological conditions.
  • Fibroin sequence mutations significantly alter the phase diagram.
  • The phase diagram's sensitivity suggests a role in evolutionary selection.

Conclusions:

  • Nematic liquid crystalline order in silk fibroin likely originates from its molecular properties and physiological environment.
  • Liquid crystalline rheology is a key factor exploited during silk spinning.
  • The sensitivity of the phase diagram to sequence variations may drive evolutionary adaptation in silk properties.

Related Experiment Videos