Fibers made of recombinant spidroins— a brief review

Spider silk is a promising biomaterial, with a wide range of potential applications in the medical, military, and commercial sectors. In the past decade, researchers have been developing recombinant spider silk (RSS) proteins with the help of advanced genetic engineering techniques, including gene design, cloning, and protein expression in different foreign hosts. The extraordinary strength and extensibility of natural spider silk fiber are constituted from the tandemly repeated amino acid sequences and antiparallel crystalline β-sheet segments formed by polyalanine motifs. Additionally, mechanical properties are also influenced by extrusion and drawing of fibers in the natural spinning process. To date, the wet spinning process was found to be a commercially successful method for spinning recombinant silks with properties comparable to their natural counterparts.