REDV-Functionalized Recombinant Spider Silk for Next-Generation Coronary Artery Stent Coatings: Hemocompatible, Drug-Eluting, and Endothelial Cell-Specific Materials.

Coronary artery stents are life-saving devices, and millions of these devices are implanted annually to treat coronary heart disease. The current gold standard in treatment is drug-eluting stents, which are coated with a biodegradable polymer layer that elutes antiproliferative drugs to prevent restenosis due to neointimal hyperplasia. Stenting is commonly paired with systemic antiplatelet therapy to prevent stent thrombosis.

Biocompatible Optical Fibers Made of Regenerated Cellulose and Recombinant Cellulose-Binding Spider Silk.

The fabrication of green optical waveguides based on cellulose and spider silk might allow the processing of novel biocompatible materials. Regenerated cellulose fibers are used as the core and recombinantly produced spider silk proteins eADF4(C16) as the cladding material. A detected delamination between core and cladding could be circumvented by using a modified spider silk protein with a cellulose-binding domain-enduring permanent adhesion between the cellulose core and the spider silk cladding.

Free-standing spider silk webs of the thomisid Saccodomus formivorus are made of composites comprising micro- and submicron fibers.

Our understanding of the extraordinary mechanical and physico-chemical properties of spider silk is largely confined to the fibers produced by orb-weaving spiders, despite the diversity of foraging webs that occur across numerous spider families. Crab spiders (Thomisidae) are described as ambush predators that do not build webs, but nevertheless use silk for draglines, egg cases and assembling leaf-nests. A little-known exception is the Australian thomisid Saccodomus formivorus, which constructs a basket-like silk web of extraordinary dimensional stability and structural integrity that facilitates the capture of its ant prey.