Biomod/2014/Pukyong
ABSTRACT
Spider silks in nature have gained great interest for decades because of their remarkable physical properties : high tensile strength, low density and thermal stability. These features are closely related to the intrinsic structure of protein components. We anticipate that large scale production of artificial fibers mimicking the structures using nucleic acids enzymes and DNA origamis. Inspired by the protein structure of spider silks, proposed novel fibrils consist of amorphous and crystalline segments corresponding to enzymatically replicated long DNAs and DNA origami bricks, respectively. This DNA nanofiber is capable of engineering the nanostructures in high precision through modification of the components. Our method will pave the way to understanding the structural influence to mechanical properties of spider silks and applying the materials to various fields.
