蜘蛛丝蛋白的模块结构性能和重组表达

蜘蛛丝是一类天然蛋白质纤维,具有独特的机械性能（高强度、高弹性和高断裂功等）和卓著的生物学特性（生物可降解性和与生物组织的相容性等）,在生物医学、材料、纺织和军事等领域都有着很高的潜在应用价值。综述了不同蜘蛛丝蛋白的模块结构特征及与其功能的关系,扼要介绍了目前利用各种基因工程方法表达重组蜘蛛丝蛋白的研究进展。     

蜘蛛丝的分子结构与力学性能研究

蜘蛛丝尤其是蜘蛛大囊状腺产生的拖丝,具有独特的机械性能,是自然界颇具应用潜力的生物材料。现代分子生物学技术使蜘蛛丝蛋白基因得以克隆,通过高分子物理化学手段方法的利用,有利于揭示蜘蛛丝蛋白质序列、分子结构、以及分子结构和力学性能之间的关系。对不同种类蜘蛛丝蛋白的深入研究,将为基因工程方法人工合成并改造蜘蛛丝成为可能。     

次壶腹腺丝蛋白功能模块的研究

蜘蛛丝是天然的生物材料,具有潜在的巨大应用价值。研究蜘蛛丝蛋白质的结构与功能,有助于破解蜘蛛丝蛋白质的成丝机理,为制备优良材料学性能的仿生蜘蛛丝纤维提供理论依据。以MiSp蜘蛛丝的重复区和C端非重复区蛋白多肽为研究对象,在不同pH值和离子条件下,在体外研究其二级结构与成丝的关系。CD图谱显示:表达纯化的重组蜘蛛丝蛋白R1R2在pH 7.5、6.5和5.5时二级结构相似,均为无规则卷曲,而R1R2CT则主要呈现为α螺旋构象;扫描电镜结果表明:在以上3种pH条件下,只有pH 5.5时R1R2和R1R2CT才形成重组丝纤维,R1R2CT纤维形态较平整,类似于天然蛛丝纤维形态,而R1R2丝纤维则呈条带状,表面粗糙。另外,氯化钠不利于形成形态平整的丝纤维。该成果为研究蛛丝蛋白的成丝机理奠定基础,也为制备仿生蛛丝蛋白纤维提供理论依据。     

蜘蛛拖牵丝蛋白基因的克隆与表达

蜘蛛丝具有极高的强度和韧度,工业和医学应用价值很高,但由于蜘蛛的不可驯养性使其应用受到限制.因此,本文尝试利用基因工程的方法获得蛛丝蛋白的表达.我们利用巢式PCR技术从大腹圆蛛Araneus ventricosus基因组中克隆了长度为837 bp的拖牵丝蛋白基因(ASP),并分别将其构建至原核表达载体pGEX-6p-1和真核表达载体pGFP-N2上,分别命名为pASG和pASN.pASG在大肠杆菌中16℃下24 h诱导表达后,经蛋白质印迹证明成功地表达了GST-ASP融合蛋白;pASN转染昆虫sf9细胞48 h后观察到了绿色荧光蛋白GFP的表达,表明ASP基因在大肠杆菌和真核细胞中分别得到了正确表达.本研究为利用基因工程的方法开发蛛丝蛋白的生产途径提供了有益的尝试.     

兔抗仿蜘蛛牵丝蛋白抗体的制备及应用

将仿蜘蛛牵丝基因s6 0 0克隆到GST融合蛋白表达质粒pGEX KG中 ,利用大肠杆菌表达系统表达并纯化了仿蜘蛛牵丝蛋白S6 0 0 ,以之作为抗原制备了兔抗血清。S6 0 0的氨基酸组分分析与理论值相吻合。蛋白质免疫印迹发现该抗血清能与天然蜘蛛丝反应 ,表明设计的仿蜘蛛丝与天然蜘蛛丝有相似的免疫原性。为了定量检测仿蜘蛛牵丝蛋白在转基因家蚕丝腺中 (或茧壳中 )的表达 ,建立了用ELISA方法定量检测茧壳中仿蜘蛛牵丝蛋白量的工作系统     

主要壶腹腺丝蛋白分子结构与机械性能之间的关系

蜘蛛丝是性能优异的天然丝类材料,其中主要壶腹腺丝蛋白产生的牵引丝具有极高的力学性能、良好的生物相容性和生物可降解性,广泛应用于纺织、生物医学和环境工程等领域。深入研究蜘蛛丝蛋白分子结构与机械性能,有助于理解蜘蛛丝蛋白的成丝机制,为制备具有良好机械性能的人造蜘蛛丝纤维提供理论依据。该文围绕不同物种主要壶腹腺丝蛋白的分子组成、成丝机理和分子结构与机械性能之间的关系进行了阐述。     

蜘蛛丝蛋白研究进展

由于蜘蛛丝蛋白分子高度重复的一级结构、特殊的溶解特性和分子折叠行为以及具有形成非凡力学特性丝纤维的能力而引人注目。本文从蛛丝蛋白基因、天然蛛丝形成过程、蛛丝蛋白的基因工程生产及蛛丝蛋白的应用前景等几个方面着重介绍了近20年来对蛛丝蛋白的研究进展。围绕蛛丝蛋白展开的研究将有助于揭示蛋白质一级结构、蛋白质分子折叠与蛋白质大分子特性之间的内在联系。     

丝纤维支架材料的制备技术及其应用研究进展

丝纤维特别是丝素蛋白和蜘蛛丝蛋白作为具有良好生物相容性的高分了生物材料在组织工程和生物医学领域里有着广泛的应用。本文阐述了近年来在组织工程研究中所涉及的利用丝纤维进行支架材料制备、细胞培养和体内植入检测手段等方面的研究概况。     

外源丙氨酸提高蜘蛛牵引丝蛋白天然基因在原核系统中的表达

蜘蛛丝蛋白天然基因的体外表达受诸多因素的限制。本研究在获得生长于中国的Nephila clavipes蜘蛛牵引丝蛋白Spidroin2 cDNA（Genbank Accession No. AF441245）的基础上,利用限制性内切酶双酶切反应构建含有Spidroin2 cDNA的重组表达质粒pET-28b(+)-Sp。将该质粒转化至大肠杆菌BL21（DE3）宿主细胞感受态菌中,以不同浓度的IPTG进行诱导,并通过诱导时间、培养温度、加入外源丙氨酸等途径提高Spidroin2 cDNA的表达量,同时利用多克隆抗体对表达产物进行Western blot检测。重组质粒pET-28b(+)-Sp的测序结果表明Spidroin2 cDNA基因以正确的阅读框插入到原核表达载体中;SDS-PAGE结果表明菌体表达蛋白中存在着大小约为31 kDa的目的蛋白带（加入外源丙氨酸条件下）,Western blot检测结果进一步证实,目的基因在大肠杆菌中得到正确表达。本研究证实,蜘蛛牵引丝蛋白Spidroin2 cDNA可在原核细胞内正确表达,外源丙氨酸的加入对于提高天然蜘蛛丝蛋白基因在原核系统的表达作用明显。     

毕赤酵母中外源蛋白表达量的提升策略

利用异源重组表达系统表达外源蛋白是基因工程研究的重点。巴斯德毕赤酵母（Pichia pastoris）是一种甲基营养型酵母,由于其易于遗传操作、高水平分泌外源蛋白、翻译后修饰等特点,已成为工业应用中蛋白质生产的重要菌株,常被用于酶制剂的生产。然而,部分外源蛋白在毕赤酵母系统中的表达水平较低,仍有待提升的空间。因此,进一步探索提升毕赤酵母中外源蛋白表达量的原理和方法,将对降低毕赤酵母表达系统工业化生产成本,提高经济效益,具有重要的意义。本文主要从基因水平、转录水平、翻译水平、折叠分泌水平、抗逆水平、发酵工艺六个方面归纳总结了近年来毕赤酵母提高外源蛋白表达的优化策略的研究进展,旨在为提高外源蛋白在毕赤酵母表达系统中的表达水平提供有益参考。     

蜘蛛丝的组成结构与生物学功能

蜘蛛是纺丝种类最多的一种节肢动物,目前共发现有8种丝腺,各纺出具有不同生物学功能的丝纤维,可分别用于织网、捕食、逃避、扩散、织制卵袋等行为活动。蜘蛛丝是一种天然的动物蛋白纤维,是随蜘蛛4亿年进化的结果,也是为蜘蛛的生存与繁殖所设计的,蜘蛛丝的适应与进化使蜘蛛丝具有多样化的生物学功能。但蜘蛛不是唯一能纺丝的节肢动物,除蛛形纲以外,还有其它很多节肢动物,如昆虫纲和多足纲的动物都有具有丝腺,能纺出一种或多种丝蛋白纤维。本文将以昆虫作为比较来概述蜘蛛丝腺的起源与种类,蜘蛛丝的化学组成、结构、种类与其生物学功能。     

Interactions between Spider Silk and Cells – NIH/3T3 Fibroblasts Seeded on Miniature Weaving Frames

Background

Several materials have been used for tissue engineering purposes, since the ideal matrix depends on the desired tissue. Silk biomaterials have come to focus due to their great mechanical properties. As untreated silkworm silk has been found to be quite immunogenic, an alternative could be spider silk. Not only does it own unique mechanical properties, its biocompatibility has been shown already in vivo. In our study, we used native spider dragline silk which is known as the strongest fibre in nature.

Methodology/Principal Findings

Steel frames were originally designed and manufactured and woven with spider silk, harvesting dragline silk directly out of the animal. After sterilization, scaffolds were seeded with fibroblasts to analyse cell proliferation and adhesion. Analysis of cell morphology and actin filament alignment clearly revealed adherence. Proliferation was measured by cell count as well as determination of relative fluorescence each after 1, 2, 3, and 5 days. Cell counts for native spider silk were also compared with those for trypsin-digested spider silk. Spider silk specimens displayed less proliferation than collagen- and fibronectin-coated cover slips, enzymatic treatment reduced adhesion and proliferation rates tendentially though not significantly. Nevertheless, proliferation could be proven with high significance (p<0.01).

Conclusion/Significance

Native spider silk does not require any modification to its application as a biomaterial that can rival any artificial material in terms of cell growth promoting properties. We could show adhesion mechanics on intracellular level. Additionally, proliferation kinetics were higher than in enzymatically digested controls, indicating that spider silk does not require modification. Recent findings concerning reduction of cell proliferation after exposure could not be met. As biotechnological production of the hierarchical composition of native spider silk fibres is still a challenge, our study has a pioneer role in researching cellular mechanics on native spider silk fibres.     

Characterization and assembly of a GFP‐tagged cylindriform silk into hexameric complexes

Spider silk has been studied extensively for its attractive mechanical properties and potential applications in medicine and industry. The production of spider silk, however, has been lagging behind for lack of suitable systems. Our approach focuses on solving the production of spider silk by designing, expressing, purifying and characterizing the silk from cylindriform glands. We show that the cylindriform silk protein, in contrast to the commonly used dragline silk protein, is fully folded and stable in solution. With the help of GFP as a fusion tag we enhanced the expression of the silk protein in Escherichia coli and could optimize the downstream processing. Secondary structures analysis by circular dichroism and FTIR shows that the GFP‐silk fusion protein is predominantly α‐helical, and that pH can trigger a α‐ to β‐transition resulting in aggregation. Structural analysis by small angle X‐ray scattering suggests that the GFP‐Silk exists in the form of a hexamer in solution. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Biopolymers 101: 378–390, 2014.     

Spider silks: recombinant synthesis,assembly, spinning,and engineering of synthetic proteins

Since thousands of years humans have utilized insect silks for their own benefit and comfort. The most famous example is the use of reeled silkworm silk from Bombyx mori to produce textiles. In contrast, despite the more promising properties of their silk, spiders have not been domesticated for large-scale or even industrial applications, since farming the spiders is not commercially viable due to their highly territorial and cannibalistic nature. Before spider silks can be copied or mimicked, not only the sequence of the underlying proteins but also their functions have to be resolved. Several attempts to recombinantly produce spider silks or spider silk mimics in various expression hosts have been reported previously. A new protein engineering approach, which combines synthetic repetitive silk sequences with authentic silk domains, reveals proteins that closely resemble silk proteins and that can be produced at high yields, which provides a basis for cost-efficient large scale production of spider silk-like proteins.     

高分子量RGD-蛛丝蛋白重组体的构建、高密度发酵及纯化

蜘蛛丝是自然界综合性能优良的天然蛋白质纤维之一,因其具有良好的生物相容性和可降解性在生物医学领域具有潜在的应用前景。在本室已经构建的RGD-蜘蛛拖丝蛋白基因16多聚体基础上,通过首尾相连、倍加等方法进一步多聚化,得到RGD-蜘蛛拖丝蛋白基因32和64多聚体,分别将这两种多聚体与原核高效表达载体pET-30a( )连接,转化大肠杆菌BL21(DE3)pLysS,得到的32多聚体表达重组子命名为pNSR32,64多聚体表达重组子命名为pNSR64。通过酶切、琼脂糖电泳鉴定及对目的片段的测序均与理论值相符。将32和64多聚体基因序列注册GenBank,序列号分别为DQ469929和DQ837297。重组体pNSR32和pNSR64经IPTG诱导表达,SDS-PAGE图谱显示表达产物分子量分别为102kD和196.6kD,与天然蛛丝蛋白分子量接近并与理论值相吻合。高分子量的蛛丝蛋白在原核生物成功实现高效表达,在国内外尚未见报道。在此基础上对pNSR32工程菌进行高密度发酵,建立了简单高效的目的蛋白纯化工艺。     

High-Toughness Silk Produced by a Transgenic Silkworm Expressing Spider (Araneus ventricosus) Dragline Silk Protein

Spider dragline silk is a natural fiber that has excellent tensile properties; however, it is difficult to produce artificially as a long, strong fiber. Here, the spider (Araneus ventricosus) dragline protein gene was cloned and a transgenic silkworm was generated, that expressed the fusion protein of the fibroin heavy chain and spider dragline protein in cocoon silk. The spider silk protein content ranged from 0.37 to 0.61% w/w (1.4–2.4 mol%) native silkworm fibroin. Using a good silk-producing strain, C515, as the transgenic silkworm can make the raw silk from its cocoons for the first time. The tensile characteristics (toughness) of the raw silk improved by 53% after the introduction of spider dragline silk protein; the improvement depended on the quantity of the expressed spider dragline protein. To demonstrate the commercial feasibility for machine reeling, weaving, and sewing, we used the transgenic spider silk to weave a vest and scarf; this was the first application of spider silk fibers from transgenic silkworms.     

Functionalized silk assembled from a recombinant spider silk fusion protein (Z‐4RepCT) produced in the methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris

Functional biological materials are a growing research area with potential applicability in medicine and biotechnology. Using genetic engineering, the possibility to introduce additional functions into spider silk‐based materials has been realized. Recently, a recombinant spider silk fusion protein, Z‐4RepCT, was produced intracellularly in Escherichia coli and could after purification self‐assemble into silk‐like fibers with ability to bind antibodies via the IgG‐binding Z domain. In this study, the use of the methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris for production of Z‐4RepCT has been investigated. Temperature, pH and production time were influencing the amount of soluble Z‐4RepCT retrieved from the extracellular fraction. Purification of secreted Z‐4RepCT resulted in a mixture of full‐length and degraded silk proteins that failed to self‐assemble into fibers. A position in the C‐terminal domain of 4RepCT was identified as being subjected to proteolytic cleavage by proteases in the Pichia culture supernatant. Moreover, the C‐terminal domain was subjected to glycosylation during production in P. pastoris. These observed alterations of the CT domain are suggested to contribute to the failure in fiber assembly. As alternative approach, Z‐4RepCT retrieved from the intracellular fraction, which was less degraded, was used and shown to retain ability to assemble into silk‐like fibers after enzymatic deglycosylation.     

Review structure of silk by raman spectromicroscopy: from the spinning glands to the fibers

Raman spectroscopy has long been proved to be a useful tool to study the conformation of protein-based materials such as silk. Thanks to recent developments, linearly polarized Raman spectromicroscopy has appeared very efficient to characterize the molecular structure of native single silk fibers and spinning dopes because it can provide information relative to the protein secondary structure, molecular orientation, and amino acid composition. This review will describe recent advances in the study of the structure of silk by Raman spectromicroscopy. A particular emphasis is put on the spider dragline and silkworm cocoon threads, other fibers spun by orb-weaving spiders, the spinning dope contained in their silk glands and the effect of mechanical deformation. Taken together, the results of the literature show that Raman spectromicroscopy is particularly efficient to investigate all aspects of silk structure and production. The data provided can lead to a better understanding of the structure of the silk dope, transformations occurring during the spinning process, and structure and mechanical properties of native fibers.