The development of SERI^® Surgical Scaffold, an engineered biological scaffold

Abstract

The primary goal of reconstructive and revision surgery is to restore, repair, rebuild, and support damaged, weakened, or absent tissue. There are numerous approaches for soft tissue support and repair, including the use of autologous tissue, human-or animal-derived acellular dermal matrices, absorbable or permanent synthetic mesh, and, now, a new class of bioresorbable protein scaffold. Although many factors influence the choice of surgical approach and the specific product used for soft tissue support and repair, the goal is to improve long-term outcomes while minimizing complications and recurrences requiring further revisional surgery. In this review, the basic science, clinical characteristics, and clinical applications of SERI R Surgical Scaffold, a novel, engineered, highly purified silk product for soft tissue support and repair will be presented.

Silk nanoparticles: proof of lysosomotropic anticancer drug delivery at single-cell resolution

“…These advancements are supported by the decades of extensive clinical experience with the use of silk in humans in load-bearing applications (e.g. sutures and surgical meshes) [43,44]. Its hierarchical structure endows silk with unique mechanical properties in its native fibre format; these properties arise predominantly from the block copolymer arrangement of crystalline and amorphous segments within the silk heavy chain [15].…”

Microfluidic-assisted silk nanoparticle tuning

“…1 Over the past 30 years, a renewed interest has grown in the silk biopolymer for use in medical devices, including its recently approved use as a surgical scaffold for supporting and repairing so-tissue damage in humans. 2 Silk is consistently viewed as a promising biopolymer for biomedical applications across a broad range of applications. 1 Silk has several important and exploitable characteristics, including (i) excellent mechanical properties, (ii) a long-term track record of its safe use in humans, (iii) broad biocompatibility and biodegradability, (iv) mild aqueous processing conditions, and (v) the ability to stabilize and protect therapeutic payloads (e.g., proteins and small molecular drugs).…”

Implantable chemotherapy-loaded silk protein materials for neuroblastoma treatment

“…Silk fibroin‐based materials have gained considerable interest in supporting the bioactivity and delivery of many therapeutic molecules including oncology therapeutics . Additionally, silk protein‐based materials have been used clinically for centuries as a suture material and more recently has gained FDA approval as a bioresorbable scaffold for soft tissue support and to reinforce tissue deficiencies . Furthermore, materials developed from silk fibroin isolated from Bombyx mori silkworm cocoons exhibit minimal immune response in vivo , are fully biodegradable and is processed via all aqueous techniques .…”

“…[8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] Additionally, silk protein-based materials have been used clinically for centuries as a suture material and more recently has gained FDA approval as a bioresorbable scaffold for soft tissue support and to reinforce tissue deficiencies. 18 Furthermore, materials developed from silk fibroin isolated from Bombyx mori silkworm cocoons exhibit minimal immune response in vivo, 19,20 are fully biodegradable 19,21 and is processed via all aqueous techniques. 22 Silk films and hydrogels have been shown to be good vehicles for the local delivery of chemotherapeutics for breast cancer.…”