Protein Gels from Cobwebs of Spiders for Biomedical Application

Silks are renowned for the tensile properties and thus, are potentially useful in the field of biomedical engineering. Silks from Bombyx mori as well as some spiders like Nephila clavipes (Family Tetragnathidae), Araneus diademutus (Family: Araneidae) have previously been investigated, as a potential material in the creation of scaffolds. In the present study, biochemical and molecular analysis of cobweb, egg sacs and dragline silk from the spiders of the Pholcidae family have revealed the feasibility of forming gel. This in turn, could be further exploited to spin a fiber, once films are formed from these gels. These silks were compared with the silkworm silk and were shown to have comparable physical and chemical requirements for the formation of gel that has wide range of biomedical applications.