Structural organization of spider silk
- 22 February 1996
- journal article
- Published by The Royal Society in Proceedings Of The Royal Society B-Biological Sciences
- Vol. 263 (1367) , 147-151
- https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.1996.0023
Abstract
Spider silks are protein polymers with outstanding physical properties. A benchmark for spider silks is the dragline thread of the golden silk spider Nephila. Our study using urea super-contraction suggests a new model for the microstructure of this silk. According to this model, which challenges the general view, this silk consists of a structured fibril tube surrounding a thin core. This hypothetical structural organization could explain the supreme tensile strength of this interesting biopolymer.Keywords
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