We report a study of self-assembled beta-pleated sheets in B. mori silk fibroin films using thermal analysis and infrared spectroscopy. B. mori silk fibroin may stand as an exemplar of fibrous proteins containing crystalline beta-sheets. Materials were prepared from concentrated solutions (2−5 wt % fibroin in water) and then dried to achieve a less ordered state without beta-sheets. Crystallization of beta-pleated sheets was effected either by heating the films above the glass transition temperature (Tg) and holding isothermally or by exposure to methanol. The fractions of secondary structural components including random coils, alpha-helices, beta-pleated sheets, turns, and side chains were evaluated using Fourier self-deconvolution (FSD) of the infrared absorbance spectra. The silk fibroin films were studied thermally using temperature-modulated differential scanning calorimetry (TMDSC) to obtain the reversing heat capacity. The increment of the reversing heat capacity ΔCp0(Tg) at the glass transition fo...

Determining Beta-Sheet Crystallinity in Fibrous Proteins by Thermal Analysis and Infrared Spectroscopy

Water-insoluble silk films with silk I structure.

https://repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt/bitstream/1822/14043/1/Yan%20Leping.silk%20firoin%20scaffolds.pdf

Macro/microporous silk fibroin scaffolds with potential for articular cartilage and meniscus tissue engineering applications.

An analyte detection system is provided with calibration information uniquely specific to the set of test strips to which the sample is to be applied. The calibration information may be stored in permanent memory of the testing device, such that the device is discarded after use of all the test strips in a kit, or it may be stored in a calibration chip accompanying the set of test strips and distributed therewith, thereby enabling re-use of the testing device with a different set of test strips and associated calibration chip.

Synchronized analyte testing system

Silk-based biomaterials for sustained drug delivery.

Immobilization of biocatalysts with bombyx mori silk fibroin by several kinds of physical treatment and its application to glucose sensors

A silk fibroin membrane containing an entrapped biocatalyst such as an enzyme or microorganism is provided by forming a mixture of a biocatalyst solution and a silk fibroin solution, forming a membrane by casting the mixture, drying the membrane and mechanically treating the resultant membrane at a temperature and humidity to produce the membrane in β-form and to structurally stabilize the membrane. Mechanically treating may be by stretching or compressing. A biocatalyst sensor is formed by coating an electrically conductive substrate with a gas-permeable layer and coating the gas-permeable layer with the silk fibroin membrane containing an entrapped biocatalyst.

Takeshi Kuroo

Papers

Immobilization of biocatalysts with bombyx mori silk fibroin by several kinds of physical treatment and its application to glucose sensors

Biocatalyst entrapped in a silk fibroin membrane