SPINNING OF HIGH STRENGTH FIBERS FROM ENGINEERED CRYSTALLINE PROTEIN POLYMERS

PROTEIN POLYMER TECHNOLOGIES, INC. HAS DEVELOPED SYSTEMS AND PROCEDURES FOR PRODUCING HIGH MOLECULAR WEIGHT PROTEINS OF EXACT REPETITIVE OLIGOPEPTIDE SEQUENCES THROUGH THE SYNTHESIS AND EXPRESSION OF SYNTHETIC GENES. SAMPLE QUANTITIES OF FROM 15 TO 150 GRAMS OF SIX DIFFERENT PURIFIED PROTEIN POLYMERS HAVE BEEN PRODUCED AND NO OBSTACLES PROHIBITING THE PRODUCTION OF THESE POLYMERS IN LARGE SCALE ARE FORESEEN. THE COMPANY PROPOSES TO DEFINE THE MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF FOUR OF THE POLYMERS IN FIBER FORM AND RELATE THE DIFFERENCES IN PROPERTIES BETWEEN FIBERS TO THE DIFFERENCES IN THEIR MOLECULAR STRUCTURE. THE BASIC REPEATING UNIT COMMON TO ALL OF THE POLYMERS, DESIGNED TO ADOPT A CRYSTALLINE BETA SHEET STRUCTURE, IS THE GAGAGS HEXAMER PREVALENT IN SILK FIBROIN. THE FOUR POLYMERS COMPRISE A FAMILY OF PRECISELY CONTROLLED BLOCK SEQUENCE STRUCTURES DESIGNED TO MODULATE THE CRYSTALLINE PROPERTIES OF THE MOLECULES. FIBERS WILL BE PRODUCED FROM SAMPLES OF THE FOUR POLYMERS BY SOLUTION SPINNING PROCEDURES DEVELOPED DURING THE COURSE OF THE PROJECT. ORIENTATION OF THE POLYMER CHAINS IN THE FIBERS WILL BE ASSESSED BY X-RAY DIFFRACTION AND FTIR DICHROISM STUDIES. STRESS/STRAIN PROFILES FOR EACH FIBER TYPE WILL BE DETERMINED.