Larval silk proteins from Stenopsyche marmorata was isolated as a protein mixture of Smsp-1, 2, 3 and 4. The Smsp-1 is a giant polypeptide and occupies at least 45%-mass of the mixture. The proteins are fabricated into a thin film, which is high extensible in water. Polarized FT-IR and wide-angle X ray diffractometry suggested that the backbone adopts two different conformations, one of which was assigned as �-turn-like conformer. A proline-rich segment of Smsp-1 was subjected to conformer search calculation, and the �-turn-like conformers were generated as predominant chain structures . The silk proteins can be also fabricated into a nanofibrous non-woven via electrospinning process. There results indicated that the caddisfly silk is one of promising as a novel tissue engineering material.

Characterization and nanofiber fabrication of underwater silk protein from <i>Stenopsyche marmorata</i>

245th National Meeting (2013)

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Characterization and nanofiber fabrication of underwater silk protein from Stenopsyche marmorata