New self-assembling antimicrobial biomaterials based on spider silk.

蜘蛛丝是一种大型蛋白质（200-250 kDa），以其良好的生物相容性，缓慢降解，低免疫原性和热原性而闻名。丝绸表现出特殊的机械性能——比任何合成材料（包括防弹凯夫拉）都要坚韧，按重量比计算比钢还要坚固。不幸的是，由于它们的同类相食和高度的领土性质，农场蜘蛛是不可行的。在这个项目中，我们使用合成的微型蜘蛛丝结构，在细菌中重组表达，从而消除了对蜘蛛养殖的需求。此外，与蜘蛛不同，细菌能够将具有选择性反应性侧链的人造氨基酸结合到丝蛋白序列中。通过这种方式，我们可以使用合成生物学来生产一个可定制的丝绸平台，以严格控制、可持续和可扩展的方式进行进一步修改。此外，重组丝可以很容易地加工成不同的稳定形态，如纤维、水凝胶、球体、胶和自组装膜，这些都可以很容易地适应它们的最终作用。该项目的目的是创造具有抗菌性能的重组蜘蛛丝基材料。我们打算用抗菌分子修饰丝绸，使用点击化学——一系列强大的、高产的、生物相容性的化学反应，这些化学反应可以耐受广泛的条件。此外，本项目将评估抗菌丝偶联物的生物活性。抗菌丝偶联物在各种医学和生物工程应用中具有广泛的潜力。功能化丝绸可以加工成抗感染手术缝合线和胶水、伤口敷料和医疗设备涂层。这种定制设计的抗菌丝质材料可解决易感部位的感染，减轻与系统性抗生素过度使用、表面相关细菌生长和医院获得性感染相关的问题。

Spider silk is a large (200-250 kDa) protein known for its excellent biocompatibility, slow degradation, and low immunogenicity and pyrogenicity. Silks exhibit exceptional mechanical properties - it is tougher than any synthetic material (including bullet-proof Kevlar) and stronger than steel on weight-per-weight basis. Unfortunately, it is not feasible to farm spiders due to their cannibalistic and highly territorial nature.In this project, we use synthetic miniature spider silk constructs that are expressed recombinantly in bacteria, therefore eliminating the need for spider farming. Additionally, unlike spiders, bacteria are able to incorporate man-made amino acids with selectively reactive side chains into the silk protein sequence. In this way, we can use synthetic biology to produce a customisable silk platform for further modification in a tightly controlled, sustainable and scalable approach. Furthermore, recombinant silk can be easily processed into different stable morphologies, such as fibres, hydrogels, spheres, glues, and self-assembling films that can be readily adapted to their final role.The aim of this project is to create recombinant spider silk-based materials with antimicrobial properties. We intend to decorate silk with antimicrobial molecules using click chemistry - a series of robust, high yielding, biocompatible chemical reactions that are tolerant to a wide range of conditions. Further, this project will assess the biological activity of the antimicrobial silk conjugates. Antimicrobial silk conjugates have an extensive potential in various medical and bioengineering applications. Functionalised silks can be processed into infection-resistant surgical sutures and glues, wound dressings, and medical device coatings. Such custom-designed antimicrobial silk materials tackle infection at the susceptible site, mitigating issues associated with systemic overuse of antibiotics, surface-associated bacterial growth, and hospital-acquired infections.