Isolation and Characterization of a New Family of Cysteine Rich Proteins Involved in the Assembly Process of Dragline Silk from the Black Widow Spider, Latrodectus Hesperus

Author

Thanh Due Pham, University of the Pacific

Date of Award

2013

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (M.S.)

Department

Biological Sciences

First Advisor

Craig Vierra

Abstract

Spider silks are protein-based fibers that possess remarkable mechanical properties. Major ampullate silk, also referred to as dragline silk, is renowned for its high tensile strength, extensibility and toughness. Dragline silk is produced from a liquid spinning dope that undergoes chemical and physical changes during extrusion. To date, no proteins that participate in the assembly process of major ampullate silk proteins have been identified. The goal of this project is the identification of such protein products. De novo sequencing of peptides from in pollution tryptic digestion of black widow spider dragline silk identified several novel peptides that were not derived from the full-length primary sequences of the major ampulate fibroins, MaSpl and MaSpl. One of the peptides corresponded to a region within a translated cDNA retrieved from a library constructed from silk-producing glands.

Pages

97

Recommended Citation

Pham, Thanh Due. (2013). Isolation and Characterization of a New Family of Cysteine Rich Proteins Involved in the Assembly Process of Dragline Silk from the Black Widow Spider, Latrodectus Hesperus. University of the Pacific, Thesis. https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/uop_etds/4067