Hydroentangled nonwoven eri silk fibroin scaffold for tissue engineering applications

Abstract

Electrospun scaffolds are being widely studied for its potential application in tissue engineering because of its nanostructure that mimics the extracellular matrices. Although it has several advantages, it lacks mechanical strength and causes structural deformation during handling of the scaffold. It is well known that the textile-based structures like woven and nonwoven fabrics have excellent structural stability. In this study, a woven and a hydroentangled nonwoven fabric were fabricated from eri silk fibroin and their characteristics were compared with electrospun scaffold. The functional groups, contact angle, thermal degradation, hemocompatibility studies showed that all the three scaffolds can be used as biomaterials. The pore and pore size distribution were better with electrospun scaffold due to smaller fiber diameter and more number of layers of fibers. The tensile behaviour was found to be better for woven and nonwoven scaffolds. The enzymatic degradation showed that the stability of woven and nonwoven scaffolds were better and electrospun scaffold degrades and disintegrates quickly. Mouse 3T3 L1 fibroblast and Human Wharton’s jelly Mesenchymal Stem Cells adhered on all the three scaffolds and a higher attachment and growth coverage were obtained on the electrospun and nonwoven scaffolds. It was found that the hydroentangled nonwoven silk scaffold exhibited similar biological characteristics as that of electrospun scaffold and also had higher mechanical strength and structural stability. Hence, it is inferred that the hydroentangled nonwoven scaffold can be considered as a suitable structure for tissue engineering applications.

Chitosan hydrogel/silk fibroin/Mg(OH)2 nanobiocomposite as a novel scaffold with antimicrobial activity and improved mechanical properties

“…Furthermore, the exceptional biocompatibility of SF with a diversity of cells and tissues, and also, its efficient potential in promoting cellular adhesion and proliferation of fibroblasts and keratinocytes have been approved 27 – 29 . This natural protein can be formed in different material shape and structures such as hydrogel 30 , film 31 , nonwoven fabrics 32 , nanofiber 33 , and 3D porous scaffolds 34 . However, alongside its super mechanical property, studies have been indicated that its combination with other materials such as graphene oxide 35 , natural polymers 28 , 36 , metal nanoparticles 37 , 38 , and the formation of SF-based composite can enhance the antimicrobial property of SF; which is essential factor for wound dressing use.…”

Development and performance study of a natural silk fiber facial mask paper

“…The existing facial mask paper mainly made of cellulosic fibers or chemical fibers as raw materials into nonwoven webs in one or more nonwoven web forming methods, are reinforced by spunlace [1][2][3][4][5] and others, which is a long production process as shown in Figure 1. The facial mask paper made of these fibers are poor in skin affinity, which just function as essence carrier without bionic intelligence.…”

Natural flat cocoon materials constructed by eri silkworm with high strength and excellent anti-ultraviolet performance

“…2,5 There is no obvious boundary between the cocoon layer and the cocoon coat, and the inner layer of the silkworm cocoon is tight. 6,7 Due to its own structure, the eri silkworm cocoon is not suitable for continuous reeling, but is only used for silk spinning or used as filling material in a few areas, 8 the economic benefits are lower.…”