Team:UCLA/Aal

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<h1> <font size="5"> PROGRAMMING SILK: Functionalizing silk fibers </font> </h1>
<h1> <font size="5"> PROGRAMMING SILK: Functionalizing silk fibers </font> </h1>
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<p>Spider silk is a remarkable natural material, exhibiting an incredible range of strength and elasticity. Silk-weaving spiders can actually choose from a wide array of silks (such as dragline, capture-spiral, and egg cocoon silk), each having its own unique physical profile and genetic origin. However, one thing that’s common to all silk is that their genes are comprised of highly-repetitive modules. By comparing and the contribution of each type of module to the silk fiber’s physical properties, we can begin to understand how to create a collection of silk modules to build our own gene!
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<p>To give functionality to our fibers, we will be genetically fusing various proteins onto our spider silk. In effect, these fusion proteins will have dual function: that of the fused protein as well as that of natural spider silk. Areas like medicine, art, and the fashion industry could immensely benefit from incorporating these dynamic fusion proteins into their current practices.
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<p>To begin with, we will fuse Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) onto the silk. This will not only be a proof of concept for future experiments, but it will produce a tangible product. Converting this product into, say, a glowing silk t-shirt, is only a couple steps away.</p>
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<p> Next we will attach streptavidin to our silk. Streptavidin is a well-characterized protein useful in molecular biology for its high affinity towards its binding partner, biotin. Both proteins and small molecules can be "biotinylated," allowing them to bind to streptavidin, or in our case, the streptavidin-silk fusion. A simple test we can do to verify this fusion protein is indeed being formed involves biotinylated GFP to act as a visual indicator. After this, we can even try biotinylating enzymes that can function in the body. Silk is ideal in drug delivery as it is sturdy yet biodegradable, and it can act as a scaffold for these enzymes to work in humans. </p>
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<p>By genetically engineering the repetitive modules, and stringing them together in defined orders and ratios, we can customize the physical properties of the resulting silk fibers. Given the diversity that naturally exists across different types of silk, we can potentially assemble a massive library of silk proteins with an impressive range of strength and elasticity for a variety of applications. We plan on optimizing the compatibility of the iterative capped assembly (ICA) technique for the iGEM competition, creating a standardized method of assembling any highly-repetitive gene fragment in an efficient, user-definable manner. Having a library of silk gene blocks to choose from, and an optimized protocol for assembling them, we can optimize the selection and production of programmable silk with customizable properties.</p>
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<p> With these experiments, we aim to demonstrate that this approach of functionalizing silk fibers can be extended to many or all other proteins. The other two projects involve the critical steps of optimizing our spider silk and the spinning process, but it is with this functionalization of the silk fibers where we can truly see the potential of silk. </p>
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<p> Our platform for synthesizing silk is a scalable, eco-friendly solution to the needs of booming industries such as medicine and fashion.  Silk is a popular material for tailoring fine garments, and the ability to modify silk to meet any specification would be an extremely useful tool for textile companies. Silk is also of great interest within the medical field since it does not elicit a strong immune response, and is biodegradable.  Consequently, it has been investigated as a material for use in sutures, grafts, and implants.  These surgical procedures require materials with very specific properties, and the ability to easily modify silk would transform the medical field.</p>
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<p> Working with silk on the genetic level gives us the freedom to modify the properties of silk fibers. But why stop there? What if we could functionalize the silk by fusing it to other genes that encode for fluorescent or therapeutic compounds? </p>
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Revision as of 00:29, 2 July 2014

iGEM UCLA




PROGRAMMING SILK: Functionalizing silk fibers

To give functionality to our fibers, we will be genetically fusing various proteins onto our spider silk. In effect, these fusion proteins will have dual function: that of the fused protein as well as that of natural spider silk. Areas like medicine, art, and the fashion industry could immensely benefit from incorporating these dynamic fusion proteins into their current practices.