To Investigate the Assembly Mechanism of Recombinant Spider Dragline Silk Proteins through In-situ Crystallization in a Biomimetic Microfluidic Chip

在研究计划中，第一步是制备基因工程蜘蛛丝蛋白。目前，我们已经设计了六个突变体，并成功地纯化了这些蛋白质。仿生微流控芯片模拟了自然旋转过程，允许按顺序将所有触发器引入通道。它可以灵活地改变条件（如浓度、pH值和负压），沿着通道可以发现完全不同的丝形态。利用不同的显微镜观察了丝的表面形态。有趣的是，通过拉曼和同步辐射WAXD可以很好地表征β -片的形成。目前我们正在汇总数据，准备撰写稿件，即将发表这一结果。

In the research plan, the first step is to prepare the genetically engineered spider silk proteins. Currently, we have designed six mutants and successfully purified these proteins. A biomimetic microfluidic chip was made to mimic the natural spinning process, allowing the introduction of all triggers to the channel in order. It is flexible to change the conditions (such as concentration, pH and negative pressure) and totally different silk morphologies can be found along the channel. Various microscopes were used to observe the surface structure of silk morphologies along the channel. Interestingly, the beta-sheet formation was well characterized by Raman and synchrotron radiated WAXD. Now we are summarizing the data and preparing the manuscript to publish this result soon.