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Silk fibroin-based scaffolds for tissue engineering

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Abstract

Silk fibroin (SF) from the Bombyx mori silkworm exhibits attractive potential applications as biomechanical materials, due to its unique mechanical and biological properties. This review outlines the structure and properties of SF, including of its biocompatibility and biodegradability. It highlights recent researches on the fabrication of various SF-based composites scaffolds that are promising for tissue engineering applications, and discusses synthetic methods of various SF-based composites scaffolds and valuable approaches for controlling cell behaviors to promote the tissue repair. The function of extracellular matrices and their interaction with cells are also reviewed here.

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  1. Key Laboratory for the Chemistry and Molecular Engineering of Medicinal Resources, School of Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin, 541004, China

    Zi-Heng Li, Shi-Chen Ji, Ya-Zhen Wang, Xing-Can Shen & Hong Liang

  2. School of Material Science and Engineering, Guilin University of Electronic Technology, Guilin, 541004, China

    Ya-Zhen Wang

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Correspondence to Xing-Can Shen.

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Li, ZH., Ji, SC., Wang, YZ. et al. Silk fibroin-based scaffolds for tissue engineering. Front. Mater. Sci. 7, 237–247 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11706-013-0214-8

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