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。一个仿生微流控芯片被用来模仿自然的旋转过程，允许将所有的触发器按顺序引入通道。该方法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。使用各种显微镜观察丝形态沿着通道的表面结构。有趣的是，β-折叠的形成，以及其特征在于拉曼和同步辐射WAXD。现在我们正在汇总数据，准备手稿，以便尽快发表这一结果。

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.