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  • Chain-folded lamellar struc...
    Asakura, Tetsuo; Ogawa, Tatsuya; Naito, Akira; Williamson, Michael P.

    International journal of biological macromolecules, 12/2020, Letnik: 164
    Journal Article

    Solid-state NMR is a powerful analytical technique to determine the composite structure of Bombyx mori silk fibroin (SF). In our previous paper, we proposed a lamellar structure for Ala-Gly copolypeptides as a model of the crystalline fraction in Silk II. In this paper, the structure and dynamics of the crystalline fraction and of a better mimic of the crystalline fraction, (Ala-Gly-Ser-Gly-Ala-Gly)n (n = 2–5, 8), and 13C selectively labeled 3-13CAla-(AGSGAG)5 in Silk II forms, were studied using structural and dynamical analyses of the Ala Cβ peaks in 13C cross polarization/ magic angle spinning NMR and 13C solid-state spin-lattice relaxation time (T1) measurements, respectively. Like Ala-Gly copolypeptides, these materials have lamellar structures with two kinds of Ala residues in β-sheet, A and B, plus one distorted β-turn, t, formed by repetitive folding using β-turns every eighth amino acid in an antipolar arrangement. However, because of the presence of Ser residues at every sixth residue in (AGSGAG)n, the T1 values and mobilities of B decreased significantly. We conclude that the Ser hydroxyls hydrogen bond to adjacent lamellar layers and fix them together in a similar way to Velcro®. Display omitted •A lamellar structure is proposed for the Silk II crystalline region of B. mori silk fibroin.•13C solid-state NMR was used to determine silk structure and dynamics.•Serines in (AGSGAG)n lock adjacent lamellae together by hydrogen bonding.