Mesoscale Confinement in Bagworm Silk: A Hidden Structural Organization.
Nano Lett
; 23(3): 827-834, 2023 02 08.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-36662558
ABSTRACT
While silk fibers produced by silkworms and spiders are frequently described as a network of amorphous protein chains reinforced by crystalline ß-sheet nanodomains, the importance of higher-order, self-assembled structures has been recognized for advanced modeling of mechanical properties. General acceptance of hierarchical structural models is, however, currently limited by lack of experimental results. Indeed, X-ray scattering studies of spider's dragline-type fibers have been particularly limited by low crystallinities. Here we are reporting on probing the local structure of exceptionally crystalline bagworm silk fibers by X-ray nanobeam scattering. Probing the comparable thickness of cross sections with an X-ray nanobeam allows removing the strong scattering background from the outer sericin layer and reveals a hidden structural organization due to a radial gradient in diameters of mesoscale nanofibrillar bundles in the fibroin phase. Our results provide direct support for lateral interactions between nanofibrils.
Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Bombyx
/
Spiders
/
Fibroins
Limits:
Animals
Language:
En
Journal:
Nano Lett
Year:
2023
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Japan