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Water‐insoluble amorphous silk fibroin scaffolds from aqueous solutions
Author(s) -
Fan Zhihai,
Xiao Liying,
Lu Guozhong,
Ding Zhaozhao,
Lu Qiang
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of biomedical materials research part b: applied biomaterials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.665
H-Index - 108
eISSN - 1552-4981
pISSN - 1552-4973
DOI - 10.1002/jbm.b.34434
Subject(s) - fibroin , silk , aqueous solution , biomaterial , chemical engineering , scaffold , regeneration (biology) , materials science , tissue engineering , chemistry , polymer chemistry , nanotechnology , composite material , biomedical engineering , organic chemistry , medicine , engineering , microbiology and biotechnology , biology
Regenerated silk fibroin (RSF) is emerging as promising biomaterial for regeneration, drug delivery and optical devices, with continued demand for mild, all‐aqueous processes to control microstructure and the performance. Here, temperature control of assembly kinetics was introduced to prepare the water‐insoluble scaffolds from neutral aqueous solutions of RSF protein. Higher temperatures were used to accelerate the assembly rate of the silk fibroin protein chains in aqueous solution and during the lyophilization process, resulting in water‐insoluble scaffold formation. The scaffolds were mainly composed of amorphous states of the silk fibroin chains, endowing softer mechanical properties. These scaffolds also showed nanofibrous structures, improved cell proliferation in vitro and enhanced neovascularization and tissue regeneration in vivo than previously reported silk fibroin scaffolds. These results suggest utility of silk scaffolds in soft tissue regeneration.