| dc.description.abstract | The spider silk fibers have unique high performance properties that make it a
desirable model for artificial fibers and its performance under benign conditions
has important implications for biomimicry. It has tensile strengths comparable
to steel and some are nearly as elastic as rubber on a weight to weight basis. The
spider spins its silk at ambient temperatures, low pressures and with water as
solvent. Spiders are ectotherms and the ambient temperature affects the spinning
speed and the mechanical and structural properties of the silk spun. The high
cytocompatibility and low immunogenicity of spider silk fibers make them well
suited for biomaterial products such as nerve conduits. Spider silk proteins have
been shown to be soluble in ionic liquids, thus once soluble, they can be processed
into new biomaterials such as films, gels, porous sponges, bone tissue
engineering. The spider silk chains with a fixed molecular weight decreases
exponentially with the UV irradiation time, since UV irradiation causes the
chemical bonds in the protein chains to undergo cleavage. This paper reviews
related literature on the spider silk spinning process, conditions and their effects
on structure, mechanical properties of spider silk and its resistance to UV
degradation. As a bonus, a brief review of the biotechnological production of
recombinant spider silk us presented. | en_US |
