The conserved C-termini contribute to the properties of spider silk fibroins

Sponner, Alexander; Vater, W; Rommerskirch, Winfried; Vollrath, Fritz; Unger, Eberhard; Grosse, Frank; Weißhart, Klaus

doi:10.1016/j.bbrc.2005.10.048

Cited by 79 publications

(98 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Therefore, these domains are thought to initiate and specify assembly of silk proteins. [26][27][28] Several carboxyterminal nonrepetitive sequences of different silks and spiders have been identified, revealing a high sequence homology amongst these domains. 24,29,30 However, only one full length sequence of a Flag silk protein from Nephila clavipes covering both termini has been identified so far.…”

Section: Gpggx/gpgqq [Iii] Ggx (X = a S Or Y) And [Iv]mentioning

confidence: 99%

The elaborate structure of spider silk

Römer

Scheibel

2008

Prion

292

179

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Section: Gpggx/gpgqq [Iii] Ggx (X = a S Or Y) And [Iv]mentioning

confidence: 99%

The elaborate structure of spider silk

Römer

Scheibel

2008

Prion

292

179

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“…Similar characteristics have been seen in other fibroins. 27,30) In silkworm and spider silks, this alternating hydrophilic and hydrophobic pattern is explained by the repetitive nature of the silk sequences: in wild silkworm and spider silks the poly(Ala) motifs correspond to the hydrophobic region and the Gly-rich region to the hydrophilic region. 27) The hornet silk proteins showed an alternating hydrophilic and hydrophobic pattern, but no regular repeat sequences.…”

Section: Maldi-tof/ms Analysis Of Each Sds-page Bandmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identification of Four Major Hornet Silk Genes with a Complex of Alanine-Rich and Serine-Rich Sequences inVespa simillima xanthopteraCameron

Sezutsu¹,

Kajiwara²,

Kojima³

et al. 2007

Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry

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“…In addition to ensemble repeat architecture, all spidroins have nonrepetitive C and N termini that exhibit length and sequence conservation (4)(5)(6)(7)(8). The C terminus has been postulated to play a role in the assembly process of spider silks (9,10).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Aciniform Spidroin, a Constituent of Egg Case Sacs and Wrapping Silk Fibers from the Black Widow Spider Latrodectus hesperus

Vasanthavada

Falick

et al. 2007

Journal of Biological Chemistry

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Spiders produce high performance fibers with diverse mechanical properties and biological functions. Molecular and biochemical studies of spider egg case silk have revealed that the main constituent of the large diameter fiber contains the fibroin TuSp1. Here we demonstrate by SDS-PAGE and protein silver staining the presence of a distinct ϳ300-kDa polypeptide that is found in solubilized egg case sacs. Combining matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization tandem time-of-flight mass spectrometry and reverse genetics, we have isolated a novel gene called AcSp1-like and demonstrate that its protein product is assembled into the small diameter fibers of egg case sacs and wrapping silks from the black widow spider, Latrodectus hesperus. BLAST searches of the NCBInr protein data base using the amino acid sequence of AcSp1-like revealed similarity to AcSp1, an inferred protein proposed to be a component of wrapping silk. However, the AcSp1-like protein was found to display more nonuniformity in its internal iterated repeat modules than the putative AcSp1 fibroin. Real time quantitative PCR analysis demonstrates that the AcSp1-like gene displays an aciniform glandrestricted pattern of expression. The amino acid composition of the fibroins extracted from the luminal contents of the aciniform glands was remarkably similar to the predicted amino acid composition of the AcSp1-like protein, which supports the assertion that AcSp1-like protein represents the major constituent stored within the aciniform gland. Collectively, our findings provide the first direct molecular evidence for the involvement of the aciniform gland in the production of a common fibroin that is assembled into the small diameter threads of egg case and wrapping silk of cob weavers.The ability to spin multiple task-specific silks is a defining feature of the diverse order Araneae (Ͼ37,000 described species). Araneoid spiders use specialized abdominal glands to manufacture up to seven different protein-based silks/glues that have diverse mechanical properties (1). Spinning high performance fibers with different mechanical properties enable spiders to perform a wide range of functions, including prey capture, locomotion, and protection of developing offspring (2).Amino acid sequences of spider fibroins (spidroins) share a number of distinctive features. Repeats of four fundamental amino acid motifs characterize the majority of sequenced spider silks as follows: (i) alternating glycine and alanine ((GA) n ), (ii) polyalanine (A n ), (iii) GGX (X ϭ subset of residues), and (iv) GPGGX. Biochemical studies indicate that these motifs correspond to distinct structural modules, e.g. A n and (GA) n repeats form crystalline ␤-sheets, whereas ␤-spirals are generated from a series of concatenated ␤-turns from the repeat structure GPGGX (3). It has been proposed that these different structural modules contribute to the mechanics of the fibers. Combinations of these motifs form larger repetitive units termed ensemble repeats, which are organized in tandem copies throug...

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The conserved C-termini contribute to the properties of spider silk fibroins

Cited by 79 publications

References 36 publications

The elaborate structure of spider silk

The elaborate structure of spider silk

Identification of Four Major Hornet Silk Genes with a Complex of Alanine-Rich and Serine-Rich Sequences inVespa simillima xanthopteraCameron

Aciniform Spidroin, a Constituent of Egg Case Sacs and Wrapping Silk Fibers from the Black Widow Spider Latrodectus hesperus

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