Method for production of polymer containing fibres

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method of spinning a polypeptide polymer containing fibre. It further relates to a polymer fibre obtainable by said method and to uses thereof. The invention also relates to products comprising said polymer fibre.

1 .- 31 . (canceled) 
     
     
         32 . A method of spinning a fibre from a spinning solution comprising the steps of:
 (a) providing a spinning solution comprising (i) a polymer that can be brought in to an aqueous solution in a concentration of at least 0.15 mg/ml, (ii) a compound that increases elongational viscosity of the spinning solution and (iii) a solvent; and   (b) drawing a fibre from the spinning solution or a combination of extruding and drawing a fibre from the spinning solution, whereby a fibre is formed.   
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 32 , wherein the polymer is a polypeptide, preferably a silk polypeptide comprising at least two identical repetitive units, bovine serum albumin (BSA), zein, or casein. 
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 33 , wherein the silk polypeptide comprises at least two identical repetitive units each comprising at least one consensus sequence selected from the group consisting of:
 i) GPGXX (SEQ ID NO: 3), wherein X is any amino acid, preferably in each case independently selected from A, S, G, Y, P, N, and Q;   ii) GGX, wherein X is any amino acid, preferably in each case independently selected from Y, P, R, S, A, T, N and Q; and   iii) A x , wherein x is an integer from 5 to 10.   
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 34 , wherein the repetitive units are independently selected from module A (SEQ ID NO: 20), module C (SEQ ID NO: 21), module Q (SEQ ID NO: 22), module K (SEQ ID NO: 23), module sp (SEQ ID NO: 24), module S (SEQ ID NO: 25), module R (SEQ ID NO: 26), module X (SEQ ID NO: 27) or module Y (SEQ ID NO: 28), or variants thereof. 
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 34 , wherein the silk polypeptide further comprises at least one non-repetitive (NR) unit. 
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 36 , wherein the NR unit is NR3 (SEQ ID NO: 41) or variants thereof, or NR4 (SEQ ID NO: 42) or variants thereof. 
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 32 , wherein the concentration of the polymer is in the range of 0.15 mg/ml to 350 mg/ml, preferably in the range of 0.5 mg/ml to 50 mg/ml, and more preferably in the range of 1 mg/ml to 20 mg/ml. 
     
     
         39 . The method of  claim 32 , wherein the compound that increases elongational viscosity of the solution is a linear or branched polymer with a molecular weight of at least 500 kDa. 
     
     
         40 . The method of  claim 32 , wherein the compound that increases elongational viscosity of the solution is covalently coupled to the polymer. 
     
     
         41 . The method of  claim 38 , wherein the compound that increases elongational viscosity of the solution is selected from the group consisting of polyacrylamide (PAA), polyethylene (PE), polyethylene glycol (PEG), polysaccharides, dextrans, preferably dextrane-sulfate, polyvinyl-alcohols, nucleic acids, and mixtures thereof. 
     
     
         42 . The method of  claim 32 , wherein the concentration of the compound that increases elongational viscosity of the solution is in the range of 0.1 wt %/vol to 5 wt %/vol. 
     
     
         43 . The method of  claim 32 , wherein the solvent is selected from the group consisting of a polar solvent, preferably water, an aqueous buffer or an alcohol; preferably isopropanol, Hexafluoroisopropanol, glycerol ethanol (EtOH), propanol, butanol, octanol, a non-polar solvent, preferably hexane, dodecane, oil, acetone or organic solvents, preferably ethylacetate; and mixtures thereof. 
     
     
         44 . The method of  claim 32 , wherein the drawing of the fibre is initiated by contacting an air/liquid interface of the solution with a drawing tool and withdrawing the drawing tool from said interface. 
     
     
         45 . The method of  claim 32 , wherein the drawing is carried out at speeds of at least 0.1 cm/s, preferably 10 cm/s and more preferably 10 m/s. 
     
     
         46 . The method of  claim 32 , wherein the spinning solution further comprises a compound that increases Newtonian viscosity, preferably monosaccharides, polysaccharides, or polyols. 
     
     
         47 . The method of  claim 32 , wherein the spinning solution further comprises a particulate matter dispersed therein. 
     
     
         48 . The method of  claim 47 , wherein the particulate matter is selected from the group consisting of cells, beads, electricity conducting metals, crystallites, proteins/protein-complexes, enzymes, and growth factors. 
     
     
         49 . The method of  claim 48 , wherein the cells are selected from the group consisting of enzyme secreting cells, hormone secreting cells, stem cells, and neuronal cells. 
     
     
         50 . The method of  claim 47 , wherein the particulate matter is present in the spinning solution in an amount in the range of 0.01 wt %/vol to 10 wt %/vol, preferably 0.5 wt %/vol to 1 wt %/vol. 
     
     
         51 . The method of  claim 32 , wherein the method comprises subsequent to step (b) a step (c) of curing the fibre in a curing solution or cross-linking the fibre. 
     
     
         52 . The method of  claim 32 , wherein the fibre is coiled while being continuously drawn. 
     
     
         53 . A spinning solution for carrying out the method of  claim 32 , comprising
 (i) a polymer that can be brought in to an aqueous solution in a concentration of at least 0.15 mg/ml,   (ii) a compound that increases elongational viscosity of the spinning solution, and (iii) a solvent.   
     
     
         54 . A fibre obtainable by a process of  claim 32 . 
     
     
         55 . A thread comprising a fibre of  claim 54 . 
     
     
         56 . A woven or non-woven fabric comprising a fibre of  claim 54 . 
     
     
         57 . Use of a fibre of  claim 54  or a thread of  claim 55  comprising one or more cells to assay one or more cellular functions and/or to maintain said cells. 
     
     
         58 . The use of  claim 57 , wherein the cellular function is assayed prior, during and/or after exposing the one or more cells to a test compound or to a stimulus, preferably to a mechanical, thermal and/or electric stimulus.