Hexagonal columnar liquid crystal in the cells secreting spider silk

The liquid crystallinity of spider dragline silk dope is thought to be important for both the spinning process and the extreme mechanical properties of the final thread. Although the formation of the liquid crystalline units is poorly understood, it has been suggested that spider silk proteins are secreted in a random coil and then aggregate end-to-end into rod-shaped units to form supramolecular liquid crystals. However, evidence presented here from transmission electron microscopy indicates that coat protein of the dragline silk of a Nephila spider is stored as hexagonal columnar liquid crystals within the intracellular secretory vesicles. This implies that this. component is already folded into short rods within the gland cells and forms molecular rather than supramolecular liquid crystals, (C) 1999 Harcourt Publishers Ltd.