In vitro production of Bombyx mori silk fibroin by organ culture of the posterior silk glands; isotope labeling and fluorination of the silk fibroin

An in vitro silk fibroin production system has been developed by culture of posterior silk glands from Bombyx mori. A large amount of the silk fibroin was produced continuously and effectively with a rotation culture procedure. Modified Grace's insect medium was used, and oxygen bubbling in the medium was performed. In addition, half of the medium was replaced with fresh medium every 6 h. The production yield of silk fibroin produced after 100 h culture was 81 mg/g wet weight of posterior silk gland. This culture system was used successfully for efficient 15N isotope labeling of silk fibroin, which is required for 15N solid state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analysis of silk fibroin. Moreover, the introduction of fluorinated amino acids into silk fibroin was also carried out using this culture system. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.