Synthetic Biology
Strain Engineering for Silk Fibroin

Strain Engineering for Silk Fibroin

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Strain Engineering for Silk Fibroin

CD Biosynsis leverages our expertise and innovative platform in synthetic biology to help our customers overcome the difficulties in the large-scale production and application of silk fibroin. Our distinguished and experienced scientists are dedicated to designing and optimizing silk fibroin production systems through the disruptive concepts of synthetic biology to facilitate the widespread research and application of silk fibroin.

Advantages of Synthetic Biology-Driven Silk Fibroins Production

Silk fibroin (SF) is a natural fibrous protein that is the main component of silk and spider webs. Because of its perfect biodegradability, biocompatibility, and mechanical properties, silk fibroin is widely explored for biomedical applications such as tissue engineering and drug delivery carriers. In order to research and utilize silk fibroin for multi-disciplinary applications, large-scale and efficient silk fibroin production is necessary. However, different types of silk fibroin face many problems in practical production. Firstly, spiders cannot be farmed on a large scale to produce spider silk. In addition, silk fibroin derived from natural biological material has many disadvantages, including impurities, batch-to-batch variation, or increased immune response. Recent advances in synthetic biology have facilitated the design and production of large-scale, high-quality silk fibroin. Using the advanced techniques and engineering concepts of synthetic biology, we can precisely modify and control the structure and function of silk fibroin to make it suitable for specific applications.

Figure 1. Schematic diagram of the silk structure. (Sun W, et al., 2021)Figure 1. Schematic diagram of the silk structure. (Sun W, et al., 2021)

What We Provide

With our advanced tools and well-established technology platform in synthetic biology, CD Biosynsis can provide customized synthetic biology services according to the specific needs of our customers, helping them to design and construct efficient silk fibroin production systems to support their downstream applications in various industries.

Featured Services

  • We are able to use genetic engineering tools to help our customers improve the design and manufacture of silk fibroin protein materials through a range of experimental and simulation strategies.
  • We are able to provide de novo silk fibroin protein design to meet the individual needs of our customers.
  • We are able to use protein engineering tools to help our customers achieve expression of silk fibroin in a variety of heterologous hosts.
  • We are able to help our customers increase the yield of silk fibroin protein through precise regulation of the microbial fermentation process.
  • We are able to provide proteomic analysis services to help our customers further understand the production process and function of silk fibroin.

Deliverables

  • Silk fibroin-producing microorganisms.
  • High-quality silk fibroin products.

How We Can Help

CD Biosynsis leverages our extensive experience and advanced technologies in bacterial synthetic biology, fungal synthetic biology, plant synthetic biology, and algal synthetic biology to help our customers break through the limitations of traditional silk fibroin production systems. We are committed to using the power of synthetic biology to design and construct efficient and sustainable silk fibroin biosynthesis systems to facilitate their widespread application.

Development of Synthetic Biology Chassis for Silk Fibroin Production

We can identify and modify suitable host organisms as a synthetic biology chassis to achieve large-scale, efficient production of silk fibroin. The following table lists bacteria, fungi, algae, and plants that we have successfully developed as synthetic biology chassis which can be used to improve the production of silk fibroin. If you are interested in other species, please fill out the online inquiry form and tell us more about your project.

Escherichia coli Pichia pastoris Salmonella typhimurium Bacillus subtilis Arabidopsis thaliana
Nicotiana tabacum Solanum tuberosum Medicago sativa Zea mays Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

Construction of a Cell Factory for Silk Fibroin Production

Many different types of cells can be developed as cell factories for the production of recombinant silk fibroin, including but not limited to plant cell factories, mammalian cell factories, and insect cell factories. We are looking forward to collaborating with our customers to build super cell factories for the efficient production of silk fibroin.

Optimized Production of Silk Fibroin

With our expertise in cellular synthetic biology, genetic engineering, and precision fermentation, our scientists are able to perform the targeted design of chassis cells. For example, overexpression of the glycine transporter protein gene (BmGT1-L) promotes the synthesis of silk fibroin protein and regulates the pH and metal ion concentration driving the transition from liquid filaments to their fiber form during silk fibroin protein biosynthesis.

Modification of Silk Fibroin

We are able to provide services for the modification of silk fibroin protein. We modify the properties of silk fibroin proteins by chemical modification or physical modification. We are committed to working with our partners to expand the application areas of silk fibroin proteins.

Applications of Silk Fibroins

CD Biosynsis provides customized solutions for synthetic biology-driven silk fibroin production to meet its growing needs in a wide range of fields such as tissue engineering and biomedicine.

  • Used in tissue engineering applications, such as the development of silk fibroin-based tissue scaffolds.
  • Used to develop silk fibroin-based drug carriers.
  • Used as an excellent biomaterial for skin repair applications.
  • Used as a cell culture substrate.
  • Used in the electronics field.
  • Used as an additive in cell-free protein synthesis reactions to improve the productivity of cell-free protein synthesis.

Want to Learn More?

CD Biosynsis provides the most comprehensive and efficient solutions for synthetic biology workflows. We are committed to helping our customers solve all problems encountered in protein and peptide production to advance their applications in a wide range of fields. Each of our deliverables will undergo a rigorous quality inspection test to ensure the reliability and accuracy of the results. If you are interested in our services or have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

References

  1. Sun W, et al. Silk Fibroin as a Functional Biomaterial for Tissue Engineering. Int J Mol Sci. 2021 Feb 2; 22(3): 1499.
  2. Lee MS, et al. Silk fibroin as an additive for cell-free protein synthesis. Synth Syst Biotechnol. 2020 Jun 24; 5(3): 145-154.
  3. Lujerdean C, et al. The Contribution of Silk Fibroin in Biomedical Engineering. Insects. 2022 Mar 14; 13(3): 286.
Please note that all services are for research use only. Not intended for any clinical use.

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