TITLE:

Combining NMR and Computational Techniques to Elucidate the Molecular Structure and Assembly of Spider Silk

DATE:

Friday, October 26th, 2018

TIME:

3:30 PM

LOCATION:

GMCS-314

SPEAKER:

Bennett Addison and Gregory P. Holland, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, SDSU.

ABSTRACT:

Over 300 million years spiders have evolved to produce six different silks and one
glue-like substance. Spider silks are comprised almost entirely of protein and are
used for a diverse range of applications such as web construction, egg case production
and wrapping prey. The silks vary dramatically in their mechanical and physical
properties with the major ampullate silk (dragline) exhibiting a strength that exceeds
steel and a toughness greater than Kevlar while, the flagelliform silk has an
elasticity comparable to rubber. Our lab is focused on understanding the molecular
structure and dynamics of the proteins that comprise the various spider silk fibers.
It is the folded structures and hierarchical organization of these proteins that
imparts spider silks their impressive yet, diverse mechanical and physical properties.
Our research team has been developing and applying a suite of analytical and computational
techniques including nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations,
synchrotron X-ray diffraction (XRD) and cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) to probe
secondary structure, hydrogen-bonding, side chain dynamics, nanocrystallinity and oligomeric
protein assembly all of which are crucial to understanding spider silk formation and
the resulting fiber properties. Recently, we have focused on understanding the protein-rich
fluid within the various silk producing glands to determine and molecular structure and
dynamics prior to fiber formation and elucidate the important biochemical triggers
responsible for converting this gel-like liquid to fibers with unparalleled, yet diverse
properties. It is our belief that a better fundamental understanding of the spider silk
protein molecular structure and assembly process will accelerate the ability to mimic
and reproduce similar biologically inspired fibers in the laboratory.

HOST:

Dr. Andrew Cooksy

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