Biocompatibility and osteoconduction of macroporous silk fibroin implants in cortical defects in sheep

Silk as a potential candidate for bone tissue engineering

“…They claimed that neither the scaffolding procedure (HFIP, UPW) nor the two different SF sources affected the biocompatibility of the SF scaffolds. However, the superior pore interconnectivity in the UPW scaffolds increased bone island fusion in the single pores of the scaffold into a local network of trabecular-like bone which was similar to that observed in cancellous bone [152].…”

Preclinical testing of drug delivery systems to bone

“…The drill holes are typically made in the tibia or femur, both in the shaft, the crest of the tibia and the proximal epiphysis of the femur [219][220][221][222][223][224]. Standard ISO testing recommends the size of the cylindrical implants not to exceed 12 mm in length and 4 mm in diameter.…”

From silk spinning in insects and spiders to advanced silk fibroin drug delivery systems

“…Another advantage is the stabilizing effect during storage and processing of coformulated biologics in a silk matrix. This successful stabilization has particularly been shown for silk fibroin (SF) -the major component of whole silk for different proteins, as well as for small molecules [4,23,26,29,[34][35][36][37] with excellent tolerability as demonstrated in pre-clinical studies [16,38,39]. The ability to tailor the biodegradability of silk [40] allows the balancing of mechanical stability and degradation rate, with SF being proteolytically degraded into uncritical degradation products [4,[41][42][43][44].…”

“…One colorful description was that these threads could be extended up to a length of 80 km before these would break under their own weight [11]. The mechanical properties of processed silk differ from the native fibers [12][13][14] and are variable upon different treatment [15], but still make it an attractive material for musculoskeletal use and tissue engineering [16][17][18][19][20][21][22]. In contrast to manufacturing conditions of synthetic polymers, the natural process leading to silk is confined to physiologic conditions, i.e.…”