A Review of Structure Construction of Silk Fibroin Biomaterials from Single Structures to Multi-Level Structures

Abstract

The biological performance of artificial biomaterials is closely related to their structure characteristics. Cell adhesion, migration, proliferation, and differentiation are all strongly affected by the different scale structures of biomaterials. Silk fibroin (SF), extracted mainly from silkworms, has become a popular biomaterial due to its excellent biocompatibility, exceptional mechanical properties, tunable degradation, ease of processing, and sufficient supply. As a material with excellent processability, SF can be processed into various forms with different structures, including particulate, fiber, film, and three-dimensional (3D) porous scaffolds. This review discusses and summarizes the various constructions of SF-based materials, from single structures to multi-level structures, and their applications. In combination with single structures, new techniques for creating special multi-level structures of SF-based materials, such as micropatterning and 3D-printing, are also briefly addressed.

Silk Protein-Based Membrane for Guided Bone Regeneration

“…Several types of SF materials have been manufactured for bone tissue engineering scaffolding, such as sponges, films, hydrogels, and membranes [16]. SF membranes are easily processed by casting or an electrospinning technique using a SF solution [27,38]. Degummed silk cocoons are dissolved in the solvent mixture [16], and the mixture is dialyzed and formed into the aqueous SF solution [16,27].…”

“…SF membranes are easily processed by casting or an electrospinning technique using a SF solution [27,38]. Degummed silk cocoons are dissolved in the solvent mixture [16], and the mixture is dialyzed and formed into the aqueous SF solution [16,27]. SF membranes are obtained by casting this solution on a specific dish or plate, and it is transparent, rapidly soluble, and brittle in its dry state [19].…”

Tailored Spider Silk: The Future Solution to Biomaterials

“…Each repeat of them has functional characters leading to the wonderful mechanical properties of SS-threads. In particular, MA-SS contains up to four typical oligopeptide motifs that suffers different repetition as {i} GGX (X=A, S or Y) {ii} (GA)n/(A)n, {iii} GPGGX/ GPGQQ and {iv} regulated-space successions that have charges on their amino acids ( Figure 1C) [5,6]. Scheibel et al [8] have shown that some repetitive domains and some non-repetitive domains are present at the ends of protein's series [8].…”

“…Flag-SS has high degree of elasticity about three hundred percent which is completely enough to squander the internal energy of prey. The web scaffolding joint-points are well welded to external supports (such as trees for example) through advanced silk binder contain special proteins created in the insect [5,6].…”

Multifunctional Cocoon Silk Prepared by Plasma Treatment

“…lithium bromide, calcium chloride, formic acid/calcium chloride [7], formic acid/hydroxyapatite [8], ionic liquid [9], etc.) to regenerate single/multi level silk fibroin (SF) materials [10]. In preparing SF materials, controlling the self-assembly of SF molecules is crucial, which is determined the physical and chemical properties of regenerated materials [11].…”