Rapidly photocurable silk fibroin sealant for clinical applications

Abstract

Sealants are useful as agents that can prevent the leakage of gas or nonclotting fluids from damaged tissues and of blood from the vascular system following injury or repair. Various formulations for sealants have been developed and applied clinically, but problems still remain in terms of biocompatibility issues, long crosslinking times and low adhesive properties. Herein, to address these issues, we report a methacrylated silk fibroin sealant (Sil-MAS) with rapidly crosslinkable, highly adhesive and biocompatible properties and demonstrate its versatility as a medical glue. The excellent physical properties of Sil-MAS are revealed via in vitro mechanical tests and ex vivo aorta pressure tests. In addition, in in vivo biological tests on the skin, liver, and blood vessels of rats, Sil-MAS showed a superb hemostatic and adhesive ability, with high biocompatibility. Specifically, Sil-MAS strongly contributed to faster wound healing than commercially available materials. Furthermore, we showed a successful proof of concept that Sil-MAS could serve as an ideal photocuring laparoscopic medical glue in a laceration rabbit model of liver and stomach serosa using a homemade endoscopic device. These findings on the applicability of rapidly photocurable silk fibroin indicate that Sil-MAS is a suitable material to supplant existing sealants, adhesives, or hemostatic agents.

Stretchable, Bio-Compatible, Antioxidant and Self-Powering Adhesives from Soluble Silk Fibroin and Vegetal Polyphenols Exfoliated Graphite

“…We exploit the properties of such materials in potential applications, investigating as a proof-of-concept a sealing patch of a perforated porcine intestine (with a 0.5 cm wide hole) ( Figure 3 a and Supplementary Movie S1 ). The closure of wounds from surgical operations is a very critical aspect to reduce hospitalization times, avoid tissue perforation and reduce inflammatory phenomena [ 38 , 39 , 40 ]. The resistance of the sealing patch made with the prepared samples was evaluated by measuring the bursting pressure ( Figure 3 b).…”

In Situ Photo-Cross-Linking Hydrogel Accelerates Diabetic Wound Healing through Restored Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1-Alpha Pathway and Regulated Inflammation

“…However, traditional bioceramic dressings, usually in powder or paste form, are difficult to control exudation and prevent bacterial invasion , and are also highly irritating, which cannot provide a mild environment for tissue regeneration. Currently, many types of hydrogels are functionalized to improve the local microenvironment of chronic wounds, which can significantly enhance the tissue regeneration. − Herein, a composite system composed of BS and silk fibroin (SF) hydrogel is developed to improve the situation because silk fibroin is a biocompatible natural amino acid polymer which has a composition and structure similar to a natural extracellular matrix (ECM), and it can infiltrate and adhere to the wound surface and finally maintain a warm, moist environment to promote wound healing. , Furthermore, to improve the mechanical strength of a SF/BS composite hydrogel, methacryloxylated silk fibroin (SF-MA) is synthesized through the addition of methacryloyloxy groups (MA) onto the silk fibroin molecules, and borosilicate was also modified with silane coupling agent TMSPMA to obtain methacryloxylated borosilicate (BS-MA), so that under ultraviolet light irradiation, SF-MA and BS-MA can be covalently bonded to each other through MA groups to form an integral SF-MA-BS hydrogel, thus improving the mechanical strength of the SF/BS hydrogel and endowing it with the in situ photo-cross-linking property.…”

Photocuring Hyaluronic Acid/Silk Fibroin Hydrogel Containing Curcumin Loaded CHITOSAN Nanoparticles for the Treatment of MG-63 Cells and ME3T3-E1 Cells

“…To overcome the limitations of natural hydrogels, crosslinking strategy (i.e., physical or chemical) can be employed to stabilize the polymer network and, thereby, improve the physical properties of the hydrogel [ 8 ]. Photo-polymerization has gained significant interest for the synthesis of hydrogels due to its many advantages, including low reaction temperature, rapid solidification, simple and mild preparation process, low-cost production, and avoiding the use of organic solvent [ 9 , 10 , 11 ].…”