Abstract
The biological performance of artificial biomaterials is closely related to their structure characteristics. Cell adhesion, migration, proliferation, and differentiation are all strongly affected by the different scale structures of biomaterials. Silk fibroin (SF), extracted mainly from silkworms, has become a popular biomaterial due to its excellent biocompatibility, exceptional mechanical properties, tunable degradation, ease of processing, and sufficient supply. As a material with excellent processability, SF can be processed into various forms with different structures, including particulate, fiber, film, and three-dimensional (3D) porous scaffolds. This review discusses and summarizes the various constructions of SF-based materials, from single structures to multi-level structures, and their applications. In combination with single structures, new techniques for creating special multi-level structures of SF-based materials, such as micropatterning and 3D-printing, are also briefly addressed.
Highlights
Silks are commonly defined as protein polymers, which are present in the glands of arthropods such as silkworms, spiders, scorpions, mites, and bees, and spun into fibers during their metamorphosis
Silk fibroin was recognized by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a biomaterial in 1993 [4]
The results showed that SF nanoparticle hydrocolloid dressings (SFNHD) could reduce the burn size of rats and accelerate the growth of collagen fibers when compared to commercially available dressing, which indicated that SFNHD may be a better choice for wounds [49]
Summary
Silks are commonly defined as protein polymers, which are present in the glands of arthropods such as silkworms, spiders, scorpions, mites, and bees, and spun into fibers during their metamorphosis. The application of SF as a biomaterial began centuries ago, with its use as sutures for wound treatment [2,8] Due to their excellent performance, SF-based biomaterials have been found suitable for a variety of applications, including drug delivery [9], vascular tissue regeneration [10], skin wound dressing [11], and bone tissue scaffolds [12]. Both synthetic and natural polymers have been widely used as biomaterials in tissue engineering. Corresponding biomimetic SF-based materials with multi-level structures are presented and discussed
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