2017 Metabolic Engineering Summit
Silk-Based Biomaterials: From Synthetic Design to Biomanufacturing
Nature has evolved a variety of complex yet elegant and functional biomaterials, providing a formidable source of inspiration for scientists. For example, collagen, elastin, resilin, silk and many others are fantastic biomaterials with sophisticated micro- to macro-scale structures and properties for wide applications. However, these natural biomaterials as harvested are often inconsistent in batch composition, and the supply of these biomaterials is usually limited. The recent developments in synthetic biology and metabolic engineering offer exciting opportunities to biomanufacture native-like and even create biomaterials of novel material forms with designer physiochemical and mechanical properties.
My talk is focusing on the emerging synthetic biology and metabolic engineering approaches for the design and high-level production of silk-based biomaterials. The first example is about biomimetic design and microbial production of recombinant spider silk proteins that are highly repetitive and extremely large in molecular weight. Then, a biomimetic spinning process will be introduced for spinning of the recombinant protein into a strong fiber with native silk-like mechanical properties. Next, I will introduce the combinatorial biosynthesis and high-throughput functional screening of silk-elastin copolymers that are responsive to diverse stimuli such as temperature, pH, oxidation/reduction, and phosphorylation. The diverse forms and tunable properties of newly fabricated silk-based biomaterials reflect the power of synthetic biology in modular design of protein-based polymers at the DNA, protein, and material levels (this project was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China Grant Nos. 31470216 and 21674061).
My talk is focusing on the emerging synthetic biology and metabolic engineering approaches for the design and high-level production of silk-based biomaterials. The first example is about biomimetic design and microbial production of recombinant spider silk proteins that are highly repetitive and extremely large in molecular weight. Then, a biomimetic spinning process will be introduced for spinning of the recombinant protein into a strong fiber with native silk-like mechanical properties. Next, I will introduce the combinatorial biosynthesis and high-throughput functional screening of silk-elastin copolymers that are responsive to diverse stimuli such as temperature, pH, oxidation/reduction, and phosphorylation. The diverse forms and tunable properties of newly fabricated silk-based biomaterials reflect the power of synthetic biology in modular design of protein-based polymers at the DNA, protein, and material levels (this project was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China Grant Nos. 31470216 and 21674061).