Study of microwave induced secondary structural evolution in Antheraea
assamensis (muga) silk nanoparticles
Abstract
Silk Nanoparticles were synthesized using conventional desolvation and
microwave-assisted radiolysis method from Muga silk fibroin. The
secondary structure evolution due to two different synthesis methods was
investigated using FTIR and Circular Dichroism (CD) spectroscopy. The
microwave synthesized nanoparticles showed enhanced β-sheet content than
desolvation synthesized nanoparticles. The conformational changes of
Muga silk fibroin protein to nanoparticle followed an ordered transition
from random coil to α-helix then from α-helix to β-turn and from β-turn
to β-sheets where α-helix and β-turn are the intermediate forms before
getting stabilized to the metastable β-sheets structure. The
thermodynamics involved in secondary structure evolution was studied
from CD analysis and activation energy involved in the formation of the
secondary structure was determined.