Biomimetic production of silk-like recombinant squid sucker ring teeth proteins

• Main Authors: Ding, Dawei, Guerette, Paul A., Hoon, Shawn, Kong, Kiat Whye, Cornvik, Tobias, Nilsson, Martina, Kumar, Akshita, Lescar, Julien, Miserez, Ali
• Other Authors: School of Materials Science & Engineering
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2014
• Subjects: DRNTU::Science::Biological sciences::Molecular biology
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/106185; http://hdl.handle.net/10220/24460
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

The sucker ring teeth (SRT) of Humboldt squid exhibit mechanical properties that rival those of robust engineered synthetic polymers. Remarkably, these properties are achieved without a mineral phase or covalent cross-links. Instead, SRT are exclusively made of silk-like proteins called “suckerins”, which assemble into nanoconfined β-sheet reinforced supramolecular networks. In this study, three streamlined strategies for full-length recombinant suckerin protein production and purification were developed. Recombinant suckerin exhibited high solubility and colloidal stability in aqueous-based solvents. In addition, the colloidal suspensions exhibited a concentration-dependent conformational switch, from random coil to β-sheet enriched structures. Our results demonstrate that recombinant suckerin can be produced in a facile manner in E. coli and processed from mild aqueous solutions into materials enriched in β-sheets. We suggest that recombinant suckerin-based materials offer potential for a range of biomedical and engineering applications.