Correlation between protein secondary structure and mechanical performance for the ultra-tough dragline silk of Darwin's bark spider

The spider major ampullate (MA) silk exhibits high tensile strength and extensibility and is typically a blend of MaSp1 and MaSp2 proteins with the latter comprising glycine-proline-glycine-glycine-X repeating motifs that promote extensibility and supercontraction. The MA silk from Darwin's bark spider (Caerostris darwini) is estimated to be two to three times tougher than the MA silk from other spider species. Previous research suggests that a unique MaSp4 protein incorporates proline into a novel glycine-proline-glycine-proline motif and may explain C. darwini MA silk's extraordinary toughness. However, no direct correlation has been made between the silk's molecular structure and its mechanical properties for C. darwini. Here, we correlate the relative protein secondary structure composition of MA silk from C. darwini and four other spider species with mechanical properties before and after supercontraction to understand the effect of the additional MaSp4 protein. Our results demonstrate that C. darwini MA silk possesses a unique protein composition with a lower ratio of helices (31%) and beta -sheets (20%) than other species. Before supercontraction, toughness, modulus and tensile strength correlate with percentages of beta -sheets, unordered or random coiled regions and beta -turns. However, after supercontraction, only modulus and strain at break correlate with percentages of beta -sheets and beta -turns. Our study highlights that additional information including crystal size and crystal and chain orientation is necessary to build a complete structure-property correlation model.

Automated summary

This study examines the protein secondary structure composition and mechanical properties of major ampullate (MA) silk from Caerostris darwini compared to other spider species, revealing unique characteristics of the MA silk composition in C. darwini with lower ratios of helices and beta-sheets. While before supercontraction, toughness, modulus and tensile strength correlate with specific protein structures, after supercontraction, only modulus and strain at break are correlated with certain protein structures, indicating additional information such as crystal size and orientation is needed for a complete structure-property correlation model.