CD and small‐angle x‐ray scattering of silk fibroin in solution

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
We investigated the structure of silk fibroin dissolved in water and in water–organic solvent mixtures by CD and small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS). CD spectra indicated a disordered secondary structure in water and a β-sheet conformation in aqueous organic solvents, such as methanol, dioxane, and trifluoroethanol (in trifluoroethanol a transient form evolving toward β-sheet conformation was seen just after dissolution). The SAXS technique indicated the presence of fibroin particles of lamellar shape. The molecular weight was 188,000 daltons in water and 302,000 daltons in aqueous methanol.