1
|
Blamires SJ, Rawal A, Edwards AD, Yarger JL, Oberst S, Allardyce BJ, Rajkhowa R. Methods for Silk Property Analyses across Structural Hierarchies and Scales. Molecules 2023; 28:molecules28052120. [PMID: 36903366 PMCID: PMC10003856 DOI: 10.3390/molecules28052120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2023] [Revised: 02/13/2023] [Accepted: 02/20/2023] [Indexed: 03/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Silk from silkworms and spiders is an exceptionally important natural material, inspiring a range of new products and applications due to its high strength, elasticity, and toughness at low density, as well as its unique conductive and optical properties. Transgenic and recombinant technologies offer great promise for the scaled-up production of new silkworm- and spider-silk-inspired fibres. However, despite considerable effort, producing an artificial silk that recaptures the physico-chemical properties of naturally spun silk has thus far proven elusive. The mechanical, biochemical, and other properties of pre-and post-development fibres accordingly should be determined across scales and structural hierarchies whenever feasible. We have herein reviewed and made recommendations on some of those practices for measuring the bulk fibre properties; skin-core structures; and the primary, secondary, and tertiary structures of silk proteins and the properties of dopes and their proteins. We thereupon examine emerging methodologies and make assessments on how they might be utilized to realize the goal of developing high quality bio-inspired fibres.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sean J. Blamires
- School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Science, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
- Mark Wainwright Analytical Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
- School of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering, University of Technology, Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia
- Correspondence:
| | - Aditya Rawal
- Mark Wainwright Analytical Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
| | - Angela D. Edwards
- School of Molecular Science, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-1604, USA
| | - Jeffrey L. Yarger
- School of Molecular Science, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-1604, USA
| | - Sebastian Oberst
- School of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering, University of Technology, Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia
| | | | - Rangam Rajkhowa
- Institute for Frontier Materials, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC 3216, Australia
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Applications of synchrotron powder X-ray diffractometry in drug substance and drug product characterization. Trends Analyt Chem 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.trac.2021.116181] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
|
3
|
Blamires SJ, Nobbs M, Martens PJ, Tso IM, Chuang WT, Chang CK, Sheu HS. Multiscale mechanisms of nutritionally induced property variation in spider silks. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0192005. [PMID: 29390013 PMCID: PMC5794138 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0192005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2017] [Accepted: 01/14/2018] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Variability in spider major ampullate (MA) silk properties at different scales has proven difficult to determine and remains an obstacle to the development of synthetic fibers mimicking MA silk performance. A multitude of techniques may be used to measure multiscale aspects of silk properties. Here we fed five species of Araneoid spider solutions that either contained protein or were protein deprived and performed silk tensile tests, small and wide-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS/WAXS), amino acid composition analyses, and silk gene expression analyses, to resolve persistent questions about how nutrient deprivation induces variations in MA silk mechanical properties across scales. Our analyses found that the properties of each spider's silk varied differently in response to variations in their protein intake. We found changes in the crystalline and non-crystalline nanostructures to play specific roles in inducing the property variations we found. Across treatment MaSp expression patterns differed in each of the five species. We found that in most species MaSp expression and amino acid composition variations did not conform with our predictions based on a traditional MaSp expression model. In general, changes to the silk's alanine and proline compositions influenced the alignment of the proteins within the silk's amorphous region, which influenced silk extensibility and toughness. Variations in structural alignment in the crystalline and non-crystalline regions influenced ultimate strength independent of genetic expression. Our study provides the deepest insights thus far into the mechanisms of how MA silk properties vary from gene expression to nanostructure formations to fiber mechanics. Such knowledge is imperative for promoting the production of synthetic silk fibers.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sean J. Blamires
- Evolution & Ecology Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences D26, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
| | - Madeleine Nobbs
- Evolution & Ecology Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences D26, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
| | - Penny J. Martens
- Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering, Samuels Building F25, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
| | - I-Min Tso
- Department of Life Science, Tunghai University, Taichung, Taiwan
| | | | - Chung-Kai Chang
- National Synchrotron Radiation Research Centre, Hsinchu, Taiwan
| | - Hwo-Shuenn Sheu
- National Synchrotron Radiation Research Centre, Hsinchu, Taiwan
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Healy AM, Worku ZA, Kumar D, Madi AM. Pharmaceutical solvates, hydrates and amorphous forms: A special emphasis on cocrystals. Adv Drug Deliv Rev 2017; 117:25-46. [PMID: 28342786 DOI: 10.1016/j.addr.2017.03.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 138] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2016] [Revised: 01/27/2017] [Accepted: 03/21/2017] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) may exist in various solid forms, which can lead to differences in the intermolecular interactions, affecting the internal energy and enthalpy, and the degree of disorder, affecting the entropy. Differences in solid forms often lead to differences in thermodynamic parameters and physicochemical properties for example solubility, dissolution rate, stability and mechanical properties of APIs and excipients. Hence, solid forms of APIs play a vital role in drug discovery and development in the context of optimization of bioavailability, filing intellectual property rights and developing suitable manufacturing methods. In this review, the fundamental characteristics and trends observed for pharmaceutical hydrates, solvates and amorphous forms are presented, with special emphasis, due to their relative abundance, on pharmaceutical hydrates with single and two-component (i.e. cocrystal) host molecules.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Anne Marie Healy
- Synthesis and Solid State Pharmaceutical Centre, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland.
| | - Zelalem Ayenew Worku
- Synthesis and Solid State Pharmaceutical Centre, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland
| | - Dinesh Kumar
- Synthesis and Solid State Pharmaceutical Centre, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland
| | - Atif M Madi
- School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Gommes CJ. Three-dimensional reconstruction of liquid phases in disordered mesopores usingin situsmall-angle scattering. J Appl Crystallogr 2013. [DOI: 10.1107/s0021889813003816] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Small-angle scattering of X-rays (SAXS) or neutrons is one of the few experimental methods currently available for thein situanalysis of phenomena in mesoporous materials at the mesoscopic scale. In the case of disordered mesoporous materials, however, the main difficulty of the method lies in the data analysis. A stochastic model is presented, which enables one to reconstruct the three-dimensional nanostructure of liquids confined in disordered mesopores starting from small-angle scattering data. This so-called plurigaussian model is a multi-phase generalization of clipped Gaussian random field models. Its potential is illustrated through the synchrotron SAXS analysis of a gel permeated with a critical nitrobenzene/hexane solution that is progressively cooled below its consolute temperature. The reconstruction brings to light a wetting transition whereby the nanostructure of the pore-filling liquids passes from wetting layers that uniformly cover the solid phase of the gel to plugs that locally occlude the pores. Using the plurigaussian model, the dewetting phenomenon is analyzed quantitatively at the nanometre scale in terms of changing specific interface areas, contact angle and specific length of the triple line.
Collapse
|
6
|
Blin JL, Impéror-Clerc M. Mechanism of self-assembly in the synthesis of silica mesoporous materials: in situ studies by X-ray and neutron scattering. Chem Soc Rev 2013; 42:4071-82. [DOI: 10.1039/c2cs35362h] [Citation(s) in RCA: 77] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
|
7
|
Svergun DI, Shtykova EV, Volkov VV, Feigin LA. Small-angle X-ray scattering, synchrotron radiation, and the structure of bio- and nanosystems. CRYSTALLOGR REP+ 2011. [DOI: 10.1134/s1063774511050221] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
|
8
|
Sankar G, Bras W. Insights into the formation of microporous materials by in situ X-ray scattering techniques. Catal Today 2009. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cattod.2009.05.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
|
9
|
Tsuruta H, Irving TC. Experimental approaches for solution X-ray scattering and fiber diffraction. Curr Opin Struct Biol 2008; 18:601-8. [PMID: 18801437 PMCID: PMC2659704 DOI: 10.1016/j.sbi.2008.08.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2008] [Revised: 08/12/2008] [Accepted: 08/31/2008] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
X-ray scattering and diffraction from non-crystalline systems have gained renewed interest in recent years, as focus shifts from the structural chemistry information gained by high-resolution studies to the context of structural physiology at larger length scales. Such techniques permit the study of isolated macromolecules as well as highly organized macromolecular assemblies as a whole under near-physiological conditions. Time-resolved approaches, made possible by advanced synchrotron instrumentation, add a crucial dimension to many of these investigations. This article reviews experimental approaches in non-crystalline X-ray scattering and diffraction that may be used to illuminate important scientific questions such as protein/nucleic acid folding and structure-function relationships in large macromolecular assemblies.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- H. Tsuruta
- Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory (SSRL), SLAC, Stanford University, 2575 Sand Hill Rd, MS69, Menlo Park, CA 94025,
| | - T. C. Irving
- Center for Synchrotron Radiation Research and Instrumentation (CSRRI), Department of Biological, Chemical and Physical Sciences, Illinois Institute of Technology, 3101 S. Dearborn, Chicago IL. 60616, USA,
| |
Collapse
|