Abstract
Nature is an incredible source of inspiration for scientific research due to the multiple examples of sophisticated structures and architectures which have evolved for billions of years in different environments. Numerous biomaterials have evolved toward high level functions and performances, which can be exploited for designing novel biomedical devices. Naturally derived biopolymers, in particular, offer a wide range of chances to design appropriate substrates for tissue regeneration and wound healing applications. Wound management still represents a challenging field which requires continuous efforts in scientific research for definition of novel approaches to facilitate and promote wound healing and tissue regeneration, particularly where the conventional therapies fail. Moreover, big concerns associated to the risk of wound infections and antibiotic resistance have stimulated the scientific research toward the definition of products with simultaneous regenerative and antimicrobial properties. Among the bioinspired materials for wound healing, this review focuses attention on a protein derived from the silkworm cocoon, namely silk fibroin, which is characterized by incredible biological features and wound healing capability. As demonstrated by the increasing number of publications, today fibroin has received great attention for providing valuable options for fabrication of biomedical devices and products for tissue engineering. In combination with antimicrobial agents, particularly with silver nanoparticles, fibroin also allows the development of products with improved wound healing and antibacterial properties. This review aims at providing the reader with a comprehensive analysis of the most recent findings on silk fibroin, presenting studies and results demonstrating its effective role in wound healing and its great potential for wound healing applications.
Highlights
Nature as Source for Scientific InspirationHaving evolved for billions of years, nature offers a huge variety of materials and structures with different functions and properties [1]
Nature is an incredible source of inspiration for scientific research due to the multiple examples of sophisticated structures and architectures which have evolved for billions of years in different environments
An extremely valuable bioderived material for wound healing application is represented by silk, which is attracting today the great interest of researchers and companies for the interesting biological properties attributed to its proteins: fibroin and sericin [25]
Summary
Having evolved for billions of years, nature offers a huge variety of materials and structures with different functions and properties [1]. Biomaterials for functional tissue repair can be natural or synthetic [5] and different approaches have been developed so far to design biomaterials based on the ECM, ECM-like materials and ECM-synthetic polymer hybrid materials [6]. Among the different applications of bioinspired architectures, bioactive materials mostly based on natural proteins and polysaccharides have been proposed for wound management [7]. The increased number of diabetic and ageing populations has increased the number of diseases associated with wounds; any impairment in the complex wound healing process can determine the onset of chronic wounds and the failure of the wound management [7,14] In this scenario, the definition of novel biomaterials for providing more effective approaches in wound care is urgently required [14]. In particular, offer a wide range of chances to design appropriate substrates for tissue regeneration [7]
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