Combined SANS, UV and Fluorescence to Resolve Assembly Mechanisms in Recombinant Cylindriform Silk

Despite the many uses of spider silk, spanning textile and biomedical industries, there is still a limited understanding of how this chemical and structural complex material is formed, consequently limiting its societal benefits potential. Specifically, the lack of knowledge in the fibrillation process of the cylindriform silk (α → β), a low energy rapidly spun silk (which forms a spider’s egg casing) compared to the well-studied dragline (safety line) silk. Therefore, we aim to investigate cylindriform silk’s unique alpha-to-beta transition. The multimodal platform at Larmor called NUrF (simultaneous combination of Neutron small-angle scattering, UV-visible, and Fluorescence) will be used to monitor and resolve the structural intermediates involved in the fibrillation of recombinant cylindriform silk. In doing so, we will elucidate the mechanisms and molecular basis for fibre assembly, with the final aim of mimicking the signature properties of silk in biomaterials and protein-based foods.