Generation of monodisperse silk microspheres prepared with microfluidics.
Monodisperse microspheres of reconstituted silkworm cocoon silk were produced using a glass capillary-based microfluidic system and by identifying an appropriate solvent/nonsolvent fluid system. The microspheres can be produced to a range of different diameters depending on the system flow rates and have a nearly homogeneous size distribution. The silk microspheres exhibit a unique core--shell architecture and have a largely beta-sheet structure, as measured by infrared spectroscopy. Mechanical characterization was performed with AFM nanoindentation and indicates that the microspheres are unexpectedly soft for a silk material. Because silk is well established as biocompatible and biodegradable, we anticipate that these silk microspheres could have particular utility in drug delivery and controlled release.
UCSF/UC Berkeley Bioengineering Graduate Group, Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, USA. davidb@berkeley.edu
David N
DN
Breslauer
Susan J
SJ
Muller
Luke P
LP
Lee
D044085:Microfluidics; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D008863:Microspheres; D047011:Silk; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared
D047011:Silk