New Biomacromolecules Paper
The lab has just published a new paper on spider silk structure in ACS Biomacromolecules! While the ordered domains of spider silk fibers have been well characterized (beta-sheets), little is known regarding the more disordered (non-beta-sheet) domains. In this paper we explore Pro-containing beta-turn regions where we elucidate ring packing interactions with SSNMR and MD simulation in collaboration with Chris Lorenz at King’s College London. Holland Lab Post-doc Kevin Chalek did all the SSNMR work and Chris conducted the MD simulation and analysis. We think this combined SSNMR/MD approach is going to be big moving forward as we continue to build a complete structural model of spider silk fibers. This collaborative work is funded by a new grant from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR). More exciting things to come, stay tuned…
