Silk Proteins from Mammalian Cells

The first successful expression of cDNA clones of silks were with partial cDNA clones from N. clavipes major ampullate silk gland cDNA [76]. The 1.7-kb fragment was from the 3 -terminus of the major ampullate silk gene and a 43 kDa recombinant silk protein was expressed and characterized. Most recently, partial cDNA clones of the 3 end of spider silks cDNAs from Araneus diadematus were cloned and expressed in mammalian cells as part of an effort to develop transgenic animals that express silk proteins [77]. Transgenic expression of silks in plants (tobacco and potato) and mammalian epithelial cells has been reported [71,77] and may point the way toward more substantive production of these proteins in the future. 

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