Molecular Dynamics of Spider Dragline Silk Fiber Investigated by 2H MAS NMR.
Related Articles Molecular Dynamics of Spider Dragline Silk Fiber Investigated by 2H MAS NMR.
Biomacromolecules. 2015 Jan 25;
Authors: Shi X, Holland GP, Yarger JL
Abstract
The molecular dynamics of the proteins that comprise spider dragline silk were investigated with solid-state 2H magic angle spinning (MAS) NMR line shape and spin-lattice relaxation time (T1) analysis. The experiments were performed on 2H/13C/15N-enriched N. clavipes dragline silk fibers. The silk protein side-chain and backbone dynamics were probed for Ala-rich regions (?-sheet and 31-helical domains) in both native (dry) and supercontracted (wet) spider silk. In native (dry) silk fibers, the side-chains in all three Ala containing regions undergo similar fast methyl rotations (>109 s-1), while the backbone remains essentially static (