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Silk fibroin and polyethylene glycol‐based biocompatible tissue adhesives
Author(s) -
Serban Monica A.,
Panilaitis Bruce,
Kaplan David L.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of biomedical materials research part a
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.849
H-Index - 150
eISSN - 1552-4965
pISSN - 1549-3296
DOI - 10.1002/jbm.a.33149
Subject(s) - fibroin , materials science , adhesive , silk , polyethylene glycol , biocompatible material , polymer science , swelling , polymer , composite material , sealant , peg ratio , chemical engineering , biomedical engineering , medicine , finance , layer (electronics) , economics , engineering
Tissue sealants have emerged in recent years as strong candidates for hemostasis. A variety of formulations are currently commercially available and though they satisfy many of the markets' needs there are still key aspects of each that need improvement. Here we present a new class of blends, based on silk fibroin and chemically active polyethylene glycols (PEGs) with strong adhesive properties. These materials are cytocompatible, crosslink within seconds via chemical reaction between thiols and maleimides present on the constituent PEGs and have the potential to further stabilize through β‐sheet formation by silk. Based on the silk concentration in the final formulation, the adhesive properties of these materials are comparable or better than the current leading PEG‐based sealant. In addition, the silk‐PEG based materials show decreased swelling and longer degradation times. Such properties would make them suitable for applications for which the current sealants are contraindicated. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A:, 2011.