Issue 5, 2015

The effect of silk gland sericin protein incorporation into electrospun polycaprolactone nanofibers on in vitro and in vivo characteristics

Abstract

The application of silk fibroin is a promising approach for designing biomaterials. However, silk sericin (SS) protein has not attracted much attention in the field of biomaterials as a natural biopolymer due to its immune responses, weak structural properties and high solubility. In this study, fifth instar silkworm (B. mori) middle gland extracted sericin protein and polycaprolactone (PCL) blends nanofibrous scaffolds were successfully fabricated via an emulsion electrospinning technique. PCL/SS nanofibrous scaffolds were characterized by combined techniques of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Water contact angle and tensile measurements indicated that the PCL/SS scaffolds exhibited improved mechanical properties, as well as more favorable wettability, than that obtained from PCL alone. We also analyzed the effect of SS content in blends on cell morphology and proliferation of human primary skin fibroblasts (FEK4 cells) within 1–5 days. The results showed that cell proliferation significantly increased in the appropriate ratio of PCL/SS blends while showing more elongated cellular morphology. The mRNA gene expression of transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1) and collagen I were up-regulated in PCL/SS scaffolds. Furthermore, in vivo experiments suggested that low fibrosis tissue formation and macrophages adhesion of the PCL/SS nanofibrous scaffolds reveal its potential as future biocompatible scaffolds for tissue engineering.

Graphical abstract: The effect of silk gland sericin protein incorporation into electrospun polycaprolactone nanofibers on in vitro and in vivo characteristics

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
24 Apr 2014
Accepted
18 Nov 2014
First published
20 Nov 2014

J. Mater. Chem. B, 2015,3, 859-870

Author version available

The effect of silk gland sericin protein incorporation into electrospun polycaprolactone nanofibers on in vitro and in vivo characteristics

L. Li, Y. Qian, C. Lin, H. Li, C. Jiang, Y. Lv, W. Liu, K. Cai, O. Germershaus and L. Yang, J. Mater. Chem. B, 2015, 3, 859 DOI: 10.1039/C4TB00653D

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements