Preparation, characterization and in vitro biological study of silk fiber/methylcellulose composite for bone tissue engineering applications

Abstract

In the present work, silk fiber (SF) and methylcellulose (MC) composites were fabricated by solvent casting method and characterized in detail. The interactions between SF/MC composites were studied in detail by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and powder X-ray diffraction (XRD). The surface morphology and thermal stability were studied. Viscosity, thickness, folding endurance, tensile strength and antioxidant activity were analyzed for different ratios of SF/MC composite. Antimicrobial activity, in vitro biomimetic mineralization, hemocompatibility and cell viability of the SF/MC composite were studied. The deposition of calcium and phosphorus ions from simulated body fluid (SBF) onto SF/MC composite surface was evidenced from XRD, FT-IR and SEM–EDS. Inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry analysis (ICP-OES) was utilized to analyze leaching of Ca and P ions from the SBF. Hemolytic assay proves that the composites were compatible with blood and hemolytic ratio is found to be less than 5%. The MTT assay test against MG-63 suggests that the SF/MC composites are promising biomaterials for bone tissue engineering applications.