Silk-E-SKE

**SILK**
//Kyle Evan Sarah// EBLOCK :) Ms Allen

**Technical Name** Beta Keratin Silk **Structural Characteristics** Silk is made up of the amino acids GLY-SER-GLY-ALA-GLY and forms Beta pleated sheets. The main amino acid is GLY or glycine. The three amino acids bond into a long chain that is repeated and then the large amount of the acids for the Beta pleated sheets. This is the polymer that is known commonly as silk. Silk is a natural polymer and it is found in spyders and silkworms.  These three acids bond to create the polymer. When they are all connected they look like this:   This is a picture of how two amino acids bond to start the silk formation:
 * Common Name**

1. Triangular prism like structure 2. Triangular cross section with rounded corners 3. Lights hit it at many angles, allowing it to have a natural shine 4. Very strong but loses up to 20% of strength when wet 5. Smooth soft texture, but not slippery 6. Tension is due to covalent peptide bonds 7. Spider silk a. Stretch up to 40% without breaking b. Composed of protein molecules c. Weaving spider silk properly could make it indestructible  Cross linking occurs with hydrogen bonds form with oxygen and hydrogen. Cross linking allows building up of these chains to bond together in big groups on the same plane. This results in the structures strength. The hydrogen that holds the helix together makes the silk have strength. Cross linking is the way that silk can be visable and durable. Kaplan, David L. "Silk Polymer Designs for Improved Expression and Processing." __Defence Technical Information Ccenter__ 28 009 2007 http://stinet.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA473922. Mathias, Jon L.. "Proteins and Polypeptides." __NATURAL POLYMERS__ 2005 http://pslc.ws/mactest/natupoly.htm. Brinkmann Instruments Inc, "Practical Information for the Molecular Biologist." __Molecular Structure of the Amino Acids__ 2008 http://www.brinkmann.com/applications/practical-mole.asp. "Silk." __Wikipedia__. 2008. Wikipedia. 16 May 2008 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silk#Chemical_properties. "Show me the Molecules! ." __Marvelous Molecules__ 2007 http://www.nyhallsci.org/marvelousmolecules/marveloussub.html. http://www.itmonline.org/image/platy4.jpg Becker, Nathan. " Molecular nanosprings in spider capture-silk threads ." __Nature Materials__ 23 Mar 2003 http://www.nature.com/nmat/journal/v2/n4/fig_tab/nmat858_f1.html. "Suture and prosthesis material." __freepatentsonline__ 08/10/1982 <[|http://www.freepatentsonline.com/4343617.html>. 
 * Physical and Chemical Characteristics**
 * Cross-Linking**
 * MLA Citations **