Spider prey-wrapping silk is an α-helical coiled-coil/β-sheet hybrid nanofiber??

Chemical Communications Pub Date: 2018-08-31 DOI: 10.1039/C8CC05246H

Abstract

Solid-State NMR results on 13C-Ala/Ser and 13C-Val enriched Argiope argentata prey-wrapping silk show that native, freshly spun aciniform silk nanofibers are dominated by α-helical (~50% total) and random-coil (~35% total) secondary structures, with minor β-sheet nanocrystalline domains (~15% total). This is the most in-depth study to date characterizing the protein structural conformation of the toughest natural biopolymer: aciniform prey-wrapping silks.

Graphical abstract: Spider prey-wrapping silk is an α-helical coiled-coil/β-sheet hybrid nanofiber
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