Recombinant Spider Silk Protein Hydrogel: Synthesis and Characterization of Spider Silk Protein Hydrogel by Biomolecular Click Reaction

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Kemian tekniikan korkeakoulu | Bachelor's thesis
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Date

2024-12-13

Department

Major/Subject

Chemical Engineering

Mcode

CHEM3048

Degree programme

Aalto Bachelor's Programme in Science and Technology

Language

en

Pages

26+5

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Abstract

Spider silk is a natural material that has been engineered into several forms beneficial for biochemistry. The combination of the functionality of hydrogels with the unique physical properties of spider silk produces a biocompatible material with countless applications in fields such as biomedicine. A biochemical click reaction with a Catcher/Tag pair such as SpyCatcher and SpyTag allows for quicker and more efficient hydrogel production. This thesis investigates the synthesis and characterization of a spider silk protein hydrogel using a biomolecular click reaction. To achieve this, an experiment was conducted where two fused proteins, a recombinant spider silk protein flanked with two SpyCatcher polypeptides, as well as a protein string of three SpyTag peptides, were synthesized and formed into a hydrogel. Then, the produced hydrogel was characterized using multiple methods as an extension. The results suggest that the produced hydrogel possesses properties viable for applications such as tissue engineering. However, optimization testing of the properties of the gel is required for a more comprehensive conception of its applications.

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Supervisor

Hummel, Michael

Thesis advisor

Fan, Ruxia

Keywords

spider silk, spider silk hydrogel, recombinant spider silk, SpyCatcher, SpyTag, click reaction

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https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:aalto-202502182441

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[kand] Kemian tekniikan korkeakoulu / CHEM