spider silk tagged posts

The p53 protein protects our cells from cancer and is an interesting target for cancer treatments. The problem is, however, that it breaks down rapidly in the cell. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have now found an unusual way of stabilising the protein and making it more potent. By adding a spider silk protein to p53, they show that it is possible to create a protein that is more stable and capable of killing cancer cells. The study is published in the journal Structure.

P53 plays a key r...

Unusual property of the ultrastrong material could be harnessed for twisting or pulling motions. Researchers have found that spider silk produces a strong twisting motion when exposed to humidity, and may be usable for future artificial muscles or actuators. Spider silk, already known as one of the strongest materials for its weight, turns out to have another unusual property that might lead to new kinds of artificial muscles or robotic actuators, researchers have found.

The resilient fibers, the team discovered, respond very strongly to ...

Spiders fed graphene produce stronger and tougher silk.
Credit: F. Tomasinelli

Natural spider silk has excellent mechanical properties. Researchers from the Graphene Flagship have found a way to boost the strength of spider’s silk using graphene-based materials, paving the way for a novel class of high-performance bionic composite.

Researchers from the Graphene Flagship have demonstrated that graphene-based materials can be used to boost the properties of spider’s silk. The silk — produced naturally by the spiders, incorporating graphene and carbon nanotubes (rolled up graphene sheets) introduced in their environment – had enhanced mechanical properties of up to 3X the strength and 10X the toughness of the unmodified silks.

Artificially modified biological materials are an expanding area of...

(a) Schematic demonstration of the system and the lifting process. The force and energy change involved are highlighted). (b) Hierarchical structure of silk fibers. The single silk fiber consists of tiny silk threads.

Spider silk offers new inspiration for artificial muscle technology. The silk of the Ornithoctonus Huwena spider demonstrates impressive weight-lifting abilities with efficient, water-driven actuation. The triggered stretching behavior of muscle is inherently based in geometry, characterized by a decrease in length and increase in volume (or vice versa) in response to a change in local environment, eg humidity or heat.

“Spider silk is a natural biological material with high sensitivity to water, which inspires us to study about the interaction between spider silk and water,” ...