2023 Fiscal Year Annual Research Report
Investigating spider silk self-assembly via liquid-liquid phase separation
| Project/Area Number |
21K06043
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| Research Institution | Institute of Physical and Chemical Research |
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Principal Investigator |
Malay Ali 国立研究開発法人理化学研究所, 環境資源科学研究センター, 上席研究員 (40467006)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2021-04-01 – 2024-03-31
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| Keywords | silk / biomimetic / liquid phase separation / coacervate / nanofibril / self-assembly / biopolymer / biomolecular condensate |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
In the final year of the Kakenhi grant, a wide range of research goals have been achieved.
The project related to design and implementation of a microfluidic platform for recombinant spider silk assembly, from soluble protein precursor to macroscopic fiber, was successfully published. Work on the NMR assignment and dynamics of MaSp2 C-terminal domain was also successfully published. Moreover, manuscripts related to the characterization of MaSp1 rapid self-assembly, as well as mapping of post-translational modifications in spider dragline silk have been submitted and are currently under peer review. The experimental work related to analysis of MaSp1/MaSp2 composite structure and function of dragline silk has been completed and is in the process of being written up for submission. Investigations related to elucidation of the molecular grammar governing liquid-liquid phase separation and multi-scale self-assembly of spider silk proteins is still ongoing, and is expected to be completed in the near future. Furthermore, the results from the above investigations have generated further hypotheses that are expected to form the basis of future investigations, including the role of novel proteins and protein domains within spider silk.
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