Natural Non-Mulberry Silk Nanoparticles for Potential-Controlled Drug Release

Abstract

Natural silk protein nanoparticles are a promising biomaterial for drug delivery due to their pleiotropic properties, including biocompatibility, high bioavailability, and biodegradability. Chinese oak tasar Antheraea pernyi silk fibroin (ApF) nanoparticles are easily obtained using cations as reagents under mild conditions. The mild conditions are potentially advantageous for the encapsulation of sensitive drugs and therapeutic molecules. In the present study, silk fibroin protein nanoparticles are loaded with differently-charged small-molecule drugs, such as doxorubicin hydrochloride, ibuprofen, and ibuprofen-Na, by simple absorption based on electrostatic interactions. The structure, morphology and biocompatibility of the silk nanoparticles in vitro are investigated. In vitro release of the drugs from the nanoparticles depends on charge-charge interactions between the drugs and the nanoparticles. The release behavior of the compounds from the nanoparticles demonstrates that positively-charged molecules are released in a more prolonged or sustained manner. Cell viability studies with L929 demonstrated that the ApF nanoparticles significantly promoted cell growth. The results suggest that Chinese oak tasar Antheraea pernyi silk fibroin nanoparticles can be used as an alternative matrix for drug carrying and controlled release in diverse biomedical applications.

Chinese Oak Tasar Silkworm Antheraea pernyi Silk Proteins: Current Strategies and Future Perspectives for Biomedical Applications

“…Similarly, Ca 2+ in calcium gluconate also induces the self‐assembly of ApSF nanoparticles . Particles between 200 and 400 nm are obtained by blending aqueous ApSF, Ca 2+ ions, and insulin in a proper mixing ratio.…”

“…ApSF NPs are used as a delivery device by different researchers . The RGD sequences in ApSF may specifically target drugs to the cancer cells or angiogenic endothelial cells in tumor stroma by binding cell surface integrin receptors.…”

“…In summary, the distinct tissue engineering and drug targeting strategies are developed by coupling the traditional processing techniques namely fabrication of scaffolds, membranes, and nanoparticles with the natural presence of RGD tripeptides in ApSF . The regenerated ApSF‐based materials reveal higher cell adhesion, the phenomenon usually is related to the presence of RGD tripeptides .…”

Spectroscopic analysis of Muga silk nanoparticles synthesized by microwave method

“…Silk has been more attracted due to its exceptional qualities like, biocompatibility, superior mechanical properties, and biodegradability. Silk fibroin (SF) is histocompatible, nontoxic, and also optically active, which makes it widely applicable to the biomedical and other fields [2,3].…”

Triptolide and celastrol loaded silk fibroin nanoparticles show synergistic effect against human pancreatic cancer cells

“…Similar studies by Wang et al also showed that positively-charged molecules exhibit a more prolonged or sustained in vitro release of the drugs from the SFNPs compared to negatively charged molecules due to strong electrostatic interactions. 51 The increase of TPL and CL release from SFNPs might also be attributed to the balance of the negative charges inside and outside the silk aggregate. Xiao et al reported that metal ions usually interact with functional groups containing negative charges outside the aggregates while hydrogen ions could neutralize the negative charges both outside and inside the aggregates simultaneously due to their differential capacity of entering into the aggregates.…”