Structure-property relationship of regenerated spider silk protein nano/microfibrous scaffold fabricated by electrospinning

Abstract

The regenerated Araneus ventricosus spider dragline silk protein fibrous scaffold with moderate strength and flexibility was fabricated by electrospinning and post treatment with 90 vol % acetone. The effect of collection method on the morphology of regenerated spider silk protein (RSSP) fibrous scaffold, the effects of the post treatment solvents and their concentrations on the molecular conformation, crystallinity and mechanical properties were studied. The results show that the morphology was affected by the solvent used in the coagulation bath. The molecular conformation, crystallinity and mechanical property of this scaffold were strongly affected by the kind of post treatment solvent and slightly influenced by its concentration when it was higher than 50 vol %. The degradation rate of this scaffold was very slow and resulting in little pH change of the degradation medium within 5 months. PC 12 cells were cultured on the electrospun RSSP fibrous scaffold and in its extraction fluid to examine the changes of PC 12 cells after different times of culture. The results show that the electrospun RSSP fibrous scaffold had good biocompatibility with PC 12 cells.

Identification of Wet-Spinning and Post-Spin Stretching Methods Amenable to Recombinant Spider Aciniform Silk

“…A number of methods have been utilized to spin spider silks from dope solutions including electrospinning [37][38][39][40] , microfluidics 41 , and wet-spinning 9-12, 14, 15, 42-45 . Since wetspinning has been extensively employed on recombinant spidroins, alongside recombinant honeybee silk 46 , and regenerated Bombyx mori silkworm fibroin [47][48][49][50] , we focused on applying this technique to AcSp1.…”

Lysine-doped polypyrrole/spider silk protein/poly( l -lactic) acid containing nerve growth factor composite fibers for neural application

“…For example, Radtke et al [15] reported that the nerve constructs consisting of decellularized vein grafts filled with spider silk fibers could successfully bridge a 6.0 cm tibial nerve defect in adult sheep. Our previous study [16] also found that the electrospun Araneus ventricosus RSSP fibrous scaffold had good biocompatibility with PC 12 cells and its degradation rate was very slow resulting in little pH changes of the degradation medium within 5 months. Thus, RSSP is also an ideal substrate for the fabrication of biomedical conducting composites for nerve tissue engineering.…”

Advances in understanding the properties of spider silk

“…Different methodologies for spinning fibers have been reported, including wet-spinning protocols and electro-spinning procedures (Teule et al, 2009;Hsia et al, 2012;Yu et al, 2013). However, if commercialization of synthetic spider silks is to become a reality, industrial manufacturing of artificial fibers will require the development of a step-by-step protocol that is reliable, robust, reproducible, and cost efficient.…”