Presentation
of immobilized growth factors with retained bioactivity
remains a challenge in the field of tissue engineering. In the present
study, we propose a strategy to covalently conjugate a pleiotropic
growth factor, basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) to a partial
spider silk protein at gene level. The resulting silk-bFGF fusion
protein has the propensity to self-assemble into silk-like fibers,
and also surface coatings, as confirmed by quartz crystal microbalance
studies. Functionality of the silk-bFGF coating to bind its cognate
receptor was confirmed with surface plasmon resonance studies. As
a step toward the creation of an artificial ECM, the silk-bFGF protein
was mixed with FN-silk, an engineered spider silk protein with enhanced
cell adhesive properties. Bioactivity of the thereby obtained combined
silk was confirmed by successful culture of primary human endothelial
cells on coatings and integrated within fibers, even in culture medium
without supplemented growth factors. Together, these findings show
that silk materials bioactivated with growth factors can be used for
in vitro cell culture studies, and have potential as a tissue engineering
scaffold.
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