Molecular and Structural Properties of Spider Silk

Crawford, Taylor R.; Williams, Caroline G.; Hekman, Ryan; Dyrness, Simmone; Arata, Alisa; Vierra, Craig

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-40740-1_12

Cited by 5 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…Farmed for their silk production for thousands of years, silkworms (B. mori) are ideal candidates as a host system for the heterologous production of spider silk [42]. Silkworm silk is produced on a commercial scale of over a hundred tonnes per annum, with the vast majority of production occurring in China and India [43].…”

Section: B Mori and Insect Cell Linesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Host Systems for the Production of Recombinant Spider Silk

Whittall

Baker

Breitling

et al. 2021

Trends in Biotechnology

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Spider silk is renowned for its impressive mechanical properties. It is one of the strongest known biomaterials, possessing mechanical properties that outmatch both steel and Kevlar. However, the farming of spiders for their silk is unfeasible. Consequently, production of recombinant spider silk proteins (spidroins) in more amenable hosts is an exciting field of research. For large-scale production to be viable, a heterologous silk production system that is both highly efficient and cost effective is essential. Genes encoding recombinant spidroin have been expressed in bacterial, yeast, insect, and mammalian cells, in addition to many other platforms. This review discusses the recent advances in exploiting an increasingly diverse range of host platforms in the heterologous production of recombinant spidroins. Highlights Recombinant spidroins of comparable size and mechanical function to native silk proteins have been successfully produced by engineered E. coli. Recombinant spidroins have been expressed in transgenic plants, rice, and alfalfa. These expression platforms can potentially offer increased industrialscale economic viability over alternative host systems.

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Section: B Mori and Insect Cell Linesmentioning

confidence: 99%