Strain Engineering for Spider Silk Protein

CD Biosynsis leverages our synthetic biology platform to help our customers explore economical ways to achieve efficient spider silk protein production. Our distinguished scientists can provide expertise in synthetic biology to help our customers design and construct spider silk protein with desirable or innovative properties for their applications in a wide range of fields.

Advantages of Synthetic Biology-Driven Spider Silk Protein Production

Spider silk has high strength, elasticity, flexibility, and elongation, and shows the advantages of lightness, UV resistance, and biodegradability, which are incomparable to natural and synthetic fibers, including silk. Meanwhile, different glands of spiders produce spider silk for different purposes, and these spider silk proteins have different primary structures, advanced structures, and physicochemical properties. With the study of the relationship between spider silk properties and structure and spider silk genes, many scientists are trying to express spider silk genes, using synthetic biotechnology, in anticipation of obtaining spider silk in large quantities to increase the commercial value of spider silk proteins.

Figure 1. Recombinant expression of spider dragline silk proteins in Escherichia coli. (Xia XX, et al., 2020)

What We Provide

CD Biosynsis aims to construct recombinant spider silk proteins engineering bacteria using multiple disciplines such as molecular biology and synthetic biology, optimize the fermentation process, purify the recombinant protein at scale, and improve the solubility of the recombinant protein to meet the downstream process research of spider silk proteins.

Deliverables

• Spider silk protein-producing microorganisms.
• Spider silk protein.

How We Can Help

Development of Cell Chassis for Spider Silk Protein Production

Based on the study of spider silk protein gene structure and protein amino acid sequence, our scientists try to transfer the spider silk gene into microbial cells, plant cells, or mammalian cells to synthesize spider silk protein using microbial fermentation or transgenic plants or animals and work on developing cell factories for producing spider silk protein. The cell factories that we have successfully developed for the production of spider silk protein include the E. coli system and the yeast system.

Optimization of Microbial Expression Vectors

We are able to use protein engineering tools to achieve in vitro splicing of spider silk protein. We try to select protein introns with high splicing activity and no cross-reactivity as a medium to join spider silk protein to help our customers solve the problems of low yield and the limitation of open reading frame gene length during spider silk protein expression.

Optimization of High-Density Culture Conditions for E. coli

E. coli is the most widely used prokaryotic expression system for genetically engineering the synthesis of heterologous proteins, and our scientists can increase the efficiency of spider protein production by recombinant E. coli in high-density culture conditions. We are able to help our customers select the appropriate host bacteria, and expression system, determine the copy number of plasmids, and the concentration and ratio of each component of the culture medium.

Optimize Replenishment Strategy

The key technology for successful high-density fermentation of recombinant engineered bacteria is the supplementation strategy, that is, a reasonable way to add nutrient logistics according to the growth characteristics of recombinant bacteria and the expression of products. We can help customers to adjust the carbon source addition rate and adjust the addition method to ensure the best growth rate of recombinant bacteria and a high expression level of spider silk protein.

Applications of Spider Silk Protein

CD Biosynsis can develop tailored tools and customized approaches to harness the power of synthetic biology to drive spider silk protein production and meet the needs of customers in a variety of industries.

• Used in the production of bullet-proof vests.
• Used in the production of parachutes and their pull cords.
• Used in the construction for earthquake resistance.
• Used in the production of artificial blood vessels and artificial muscles.
• Used in the production of the adhesive tape to stop bleeding quickly.
• Used for the production of surgical sutures.
• Used in the production of automobile bumpers.
• Used in the production of environmentally friendly packaging materials.

Want to Learn More?

CD Biosynsis provides the most comprehensive and efficient solutions for synthetic biology workflows. We are committed to helping our customers solve all problems encountered in protein and peptide production to advance their applications in a wide range of fields. Each of our deliverables will undergo a rigorous quality inspection test to ensure the reliability and accuracy of the results. If you are interested in our services or have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Reference

1. Xia XX, et al. Native-sized recombinant spider silk protein produced in metabolically engineered Escherichia coli results in a strong fiber. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2010 Aug 10; 107(32): 14059-63.

Please note that all services are for research use only. Not intended for any clinical use.