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NMR and MRI Structural and Dynamic Elucidation of Spider Silk Fibers & Related Biopolymers

Jeff Yarger
Home Department - Chemistry and Biochemistry
Areas of Study - Biopolymers, Polyamorphic Materials, High Pressure Materials, Quantum Dots, Fuel Cell and Battery Materials
Office - ISTB1 470
Phone - 6235659913
E-mail - jyarger@gmail.com
Designation - Experimental

Multinuclear and Multidimensional NMR and MRI techniques are developed to elucidate the molecular structure and dynamics of spider silk fibers and related biopolymers. Prof. Yarger and Holland are working collaboratively to characterize the molecular structure of natural and synthetic spider silk fibers. For example, figure 1 showns a Two-dimensional 13C-13C NMR correlation spectra of N.ClaVipes spider dragline silk collected with 1 s DARR recoupling period. Expansions of the (A) downfield carbonyl and (B)upfield regions of the 13C spectrum are shown. Strong intramolecular and weak intermolecular contacts are indicated with dashed and solid gray lines, respectively. This NMR data allows us to elucidate several new structural motifs in spider dragline silk.