Elucidation and mimicry of velvet worm slime fiber formation: Towards sustainable polymer fabrication

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The prey capture secretion of velvet worms is a rich source of biomimetic inspiration towards circular processing of advanced polymers. In nature, velvet worms employ a fluid, protein-rich secretion for hunting and defense, which rapidly forms stiff fibers. The fluid-to-fiber transition occurs outside the body, indicating that the “instructions” for assembly are programmed into the protein building blocks. Intramolecular electrostatic interactions drive protein folding and self-organization (coacervation) into nanoscale droplets, which can be instantly transformed into fibers via simple mechanical stimulus. At the nanoscale, proteins partially unfold, merge together and form a strong network, which solidifies into a glassy polymeric solid - a process, which is fully reversible. However, the underlying principles responsible for this remarkable natural recyclable polymer remain poorly understood. The goal of this interdisciplinary project is therefore to further clarify the physico-chemical principles of the reversible transformation process and to undertake the first steps towards mimicking the circular behavior of the capture slime. We will therefore identify the most abundant slime proteins using transcriptomics and de-novo-sequencing and analyze post-translational modifications, which play a key role in the electrostatic interactions of slime proteins. Subsequently, we will take steps towards recombinant expression of slime proteins for biomimetic materials fabrication.