Purification of Dragline Silk Proteins to Explore Effects of Silk Components on Wound Healing
Poster Number
03B
Format
Poster Presentation
Faculty Mentor Name
Craig Vierra
Faculty Mentor Department
Biological Sciences
Abstract/Artist Statement
Dragline silk has become a focus of the scientific community due to its high tensile strength, extensibility, and toughness. Silk has many applications to the real world, including incorporation into shoes, tires, body armor, and music instruments. Interestingly, cobweb silk has been reported in ancient history to play a significant role in wound-healing. One of the main fiber types in cobwebs is dragline silk, suggesting components of dragline silk drive the wound healing process. To explore the effects of proteins found in dragline silk and their association with wound healing, we designed an experiment to test one of the newly discovered dragline silk protein, cysteine-rich protein 1 (CRP1), and its potential linkage to wound healing. To investigate whether CRP1 can influence wound healing, we expressed Sumo-CRP1 in bacteria and purified the fusion protein using affinity chromatography. Affinity purified Sumo-CRP1 proteins were confirmed by SDS-PAGE analysis and silver staining as well as in solution tryptic digestion and mass spectrometry. Our long-term goal is to treat human immune system cells with CRP1 to investigate whether it plays a role in wound healing.
Location
DeRosa University Center, Ballroom
Start Date
28-4-2018 10:00 AM
End Date
28-4-2018 12:00 PM
Purification of Dragline Silk Proteins to Explore Effects of Silk Components on Wound Healing
DeRosa University Center, Ballroom
Dragline silk has become a focus of the scientific community due to its high tensile strength, extensibility, and toughness. Silk has many applications to the real world, including incorporation into shoes, tires, body armor, and music instruments. Interestingly, cobweb silk has been reported in ancient history to play a significant role in wound-healing. One of the main fiber types in cobwebs is dragline silk, suggesting components of dragline silk drive the wound healing process. To explore the effects of proteins found in dragline silk and their association with wound healing, we designed an experiment to test one of the newly discovered dragline silk protein, cysteine-rich protein 1 (CRP1), and its potential linkage to wound healing. To investigate whether CRP1 can influence wound healing, we expressed Sumo-CRP1 in bacteria and purified the fusion protein using affinity chromatography. Affinity purified Sumo-CRP1 proteins were confirmed by SDS-PAGE analysis and silver staining as well as in solution tryptic digestion and mass spectrometry. Our long-term goal is to treat human immune system cells with CRP1 to investigate whether it plays a role in wound healing.