Orientation, structure, wet-spinning, and molecular basis for supercontraction of spider dragline silk

This manuscript reviews work from our laboratory that addresses the orienta tion, secondary structure, wet-spinning: and molecular basis for supercontr action of spider silk. It identifies the poly(alanine) runs as the crystall ine regions, establishes the degree of orientation of these regions, and id entifies the secondary structural elements of the conserved L-G-X-Q (X = G, S, or N) regions. It also describes methods for spinning very small amount s of protein polymers and it sets forth several molecular-level hypotheses concerning supercontraction. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights rese rved.