3D Printing of Silk Fibroin for Biomedical Applications

Abstract

Three-dimensional (3D) printing is regarded as a critical technological-evolution in material engineering, especially for customized biomedicine. However, a big challenge that hinders the 3D printing technique applied in biomedical field is applicable bioink. Silk fibroin (SF) is used as a biomaterial for decades due to its remarkable high machinability and good biocompatibility and biodegradability, which provides a possible alternate of bioink for 3D printing. In this review, we summarize the requirements, characteristics and processabilities of SF bioink, in particular, focusing on the printing possibilities and capabilities of bioink. Further, the current achievements of cell-loading SF based bioinks were comprehensively viewed from their physical properties, chemical components, and bioactivities as well. Finally, the emerging issues and prospects of SF based bioink for 3D printing are given. This review provides a reference for the programmable and multiple processes and the further improvement of silk-based biomaterials fabrication by 3D printing.

Nonmulberry Silk Based Ink for Fabricating Mechanically Robust Cardiac Patches and Endothelialized Myocardium‐on‐a‐Chip Application

“…Substrate stiffness has been known to alter the dynamics of cardiomyocytes 15,29b. Previous studies have shown that substrates encapsulating cardiomyocytes when mimicking the elasticity and strength of the developing myocardial environment were able to encourage actin‐myosin cytoskeleton development and 1 Hz beating in encapsulated cardiomyocytes .…”

“…Amongst the naturally available biomaterials, silk fibroin (SF), merits its application in tissue engineering due to its several desirable qualities. SF is a mechanically robust, exceptionally resilient, biodegradable material and manifests minimal immunogenic response in comparison to synthetic polymers . Therefore, SF protein has become a popular choice as a biomaterial ink for printing several tissues such as cartilage, bone and skin 15,18a,19.…”

“…SF is a mechanically robust, exceptionally resilient, biodegradable material and manifests minimal immunogenic response in comparison to synthetic polymers . Therefore, SF protein has become a popular choice as a biomaterial ink for printing several tissues such as cartilage, bone and skin 15,18a,19. In addition, SF protein has also been to known to promote wound healing due to its excellent biomedical and mechanical properties 18c,20.…”

“…For instance, GelMA based bioprinted scaffolds display excellent biocompatibility and have high swelling behavior. However, their low mechanical properties and fast degradation capacity offer low translation ability beyond their culture in an in vitro system . At this juncture, the inclusion of synthetic polymers as reinforcing agents is highly debatable as they might provide the bioink with improved mechanical properties 1a,11a.…”

Production and Characterization of Porous Fibroin Scaffolds for Regenerative Medical Application

“…Due to the complexity of 3D-printing procedures, currently only simple structures can be printed. However, as printing techniques advance steadily, the construction of complex and multifunctional structures will be possible in the near future (32).…”