Abstract
This study is the first to report on the fabrication and properties of electrospun scaffolds derived from separated light-chain fibroin and heavy-chain fibroin, two major proteins of silk fibroin. Among seven different extraction conditions, which were commonly used to extract fibroin from cocoons of Bombyx mori, only Ajisawa's reagent and 9 M lithium thiocyanate could extract both heavy-chain fibroin and light-chain fibroin, while the other conditions could yield only the light-chain fibroin. Mixed fibroin, light-chain fibroin, and heavy-chain fibroin were fabricated using electrospinning methods. Average diameters of the fibers were 658+/-208, 517+/-162, and 518+/-171 nm, respectively and their sizes after treatment with 50% methanol for 60 min were slightly increased to 747+/-244, 556+/-164 and 521+/-201 nm, respectively. FTIR spectra showed similar predominant beta-sheet conformation of mixed fibroin and heavy-chain fibroin scaffolds after treated with methanol, whereas the predominant structure of light-chain fibroin was random coil conformation. Although, scaffolds derived from mixed fibroin and heavy-chain fibroin showed similar properties, the light-chain fibroin scaffold clearly exhibited different properties, including more hydrophilic character, water uptake ability, degradation rate, and cell adhesion capability.
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