TY - JOUR
T1 - Application of the Spider Silk Standardization Initiative (S3I) methodology to the characterization of major ampullate gland silk fibers spun by spiders from Pantanos de Villa wetlands (Lima, Peru)
AU - Garrote, Javier
AU - Ruiz, Víctor
AU - Troncoso, Omar P.
AU - Torres, Fernando G.
AU - Arnedo, Miquel
AU - Elices, Manuel
AU - Guinea, Gustavo V.
AU - Pérez-Rigueiro, José
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2020/11
Y1 - 2020/11
N2 - Spider silk is a natural material with unique properties and a great potential for engineering and biomedical applications. In spite of its simple composition and highly conserved and stereotypical production, spider silks show a wide range of variability in their mechanical properties which, for long, have defied their classification and standardization. Here we propose to launch the Spider Silk Standardization Initiative (S3I), a methodology based on the definition of the α* parameter, in an attempt to define a systematic procedure to classify the tensile properties exhibited by major ampullate gland silk (MAS) spun by Entelegynae spiders. The α* parameter is calculated from the comparison of the true stress-true strain curve of any MAS fiber after being subjected to maximum supercontraction, with the true stress-true strain curve of the species Argiope aurantia, which is set as a reference curve. This work presents the details of the S3I methodology and, as an example, shows its application to an assemblage of Entelegynae spiders from different families collected at the Pantanos de Villa wetlands (Lima, Peru). The systematic and objective classification of the tensile properties of MAS fibers allowed by the S3I will offer insights into key aspects of the biological evolution of the material, and address questions such as how history and adaptation contributed to shape those properties. In addition, it will surely have far reaching consequences in fields such as Materials Science, and Molecular and Evolutionary Biology, by organizing the range of tensile properties exhibited by spider silk fibers.
AB - Spider silk is a natural material with unique properties and a great potential for engineering and biomedical applications. In spite of its simple composition and highly conserved and stereotypical production, spider silks show a wide range of variability in their mechanical properties which, for long, have defied their classification and standardization. Here we propose to launch the Spider Silk Standardization Initiative (S3I), a methodology based on the definition of the α* parameter, in an attempt to define a systematic procedure to classify the tensile properties exhibited by major ampullate gland silk (MAS) spun by Entelegynae spiders. The α* parameter is calculated from the comparison of the true stress-true strain curve of any MAS fiber after being subjected to maximum supercontraction, with the true stress-true strain curve of the species Argiope aurantia, which is set as a reference curve. This work presents the details of the S3I methodology and, as an example, shows its application to an assemblage of Entelegynae spiders from different families collected at the Pantanos de Villa wetlands (Lima, Peru). The systematic and objective classification of the tensile properties of MAS fibers allowed by the S3I will offer insights into key aspects of the biological evolution of the material, and address questions such as how history and adaptation contributed to shape those properties. In addition, it will surely have far reaching consequences in fields such as Materials Science, and Molecular and Evolutionary Biology, by organizing the range of tensile properties exhibited by spider silk fibers.
KW - Spider silk
KW - Spider silk standardization initiative
KW - Supercontraction
KW - Tensile properties
KW - Variability
KW - α parameter
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85089426454&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jmbbm.2020.104023
DO - 10.1016/j.jmbbm.2020.104023
M3 - Article
C2 - 32818773
AN - SCOPUS:85089426454
SN - 1751-6161
VL - 111
JO - Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials
JF - Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials
M1 - 104023
ER -