EUROPEAN CONGRESS AND EXHIBITION ON ADVANCED MATERIALS AND PROCESSES - EUROMAT 2021

Many researchers are increasingly fascinated by the material spider silk, which has been engineered by nature and shows exceptional mechanical properties. In addition to its impressive mechanical performance, a variety of possible medical applications have emerged due to its excellent biocompatibility. Specifically, spider silk is a promising material for nerve regeneration and has successfully worked as center piece of conduits for Schwann cells which are responsible for the growth of peripheral nerves after injury [1]. In cell culture experiments (by our project partner at Medical University Vienna) Schwann cells were found to prefer certain types of spider silks to others. In this study we examine the ultrastructure of several silk types in order to assess if it influences the acceptance by Schwann cells. A suitable method for this purpose is x-ray diffraction [2]. Because of the small dimensions of the samples a sub-micron synchrotron x-ray beam is needed to get information about the silk ultrastructure in a position resolved way. Nano-diffraction experiments with silks from six different spider species were carried out at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) ID13 beamline in Grenoble. The latest results from these experiments are presented in this poster and an outlook to further investigations will be given.

1. Kornfeld, T., et al., Spider silk nerve graft promotes axonal regeneration on long distance nerve defect in a sheep model. Biomaterials, 2021. 271: p. 120692.
2. Riekel, C., M. Burghammer, and M. Rosenthal, Nanoscale X-Ray Diffraction of Silk Fibers. Frontiers in Materials, 2019. 6(315).