Spiders Use Structural Conversion of Globular Amyloidogenic Domains to Make Strong Silk Fibers (Adv. Funct. Mater. 23/2024).

In the article "Spiders Use Structural Conversion of Globular Amyloidogenic Domains to Make Strong Silk Fibers," researchers discuss how spiders utilize the structural conversion of conserved globular spacer domains to create strong silk fibers. These domains, which contain motifs similar to human amyloidogenic motifs, self-assemble into amyloid-like fibrils through a non-nucleation-dependent pathway. The integration of this spacer into a chimeric spidroin enhances silk-like fiber assembly, improves molecular homogeneity, and significantly strengthens the fibers. The study was conducted by Gefei Chen and a team of researchers. [Extracted from the article]