title: Silk-pectin hydrogel with superior mechanical properties, biodegradability, and biocompatibility.
abstract: A new method is developed to prepare silk hydrogels and silk-pectin hydrogels via dialysis against methanol to obtain hydrogels with high concentrations of silk fibroin. The relationship between the mechanical and biological properties and the structure of the silk-pectin hydrogels is subsequently evaluated. The present results suggest that pectin associates with silk molecules when the silk concentration exceeds 15 wt%, suggesting that a silk concentration of over 15 wt% is critical to construct interacting silk-pectin networks. The silk-pectin hydrogel reported here is composed of a heterogeneous network, which is different from fiber-reinforced, interpenetrated networks and double-network hydrogels, as well as high-stiffness hydrogels (elastic modulus of 4.7 ± 0.9 MPa, elastic stress limit of 3.9 ± 0.1 MPa, and elastic strain limit of 48.4 ± 0.5%) with regard to biocompatibility and biodegradability.
authors.affiliation: Enzyme Research Team, RIKEN Biomass Engineering Program, RIKEN 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako-shi, Saitama, 351-0198, Japan. keiji.numata@riken.jp.
authors.forename: Keiji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Numata
authors.forename: Shoya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yamazaki
authors.forename: Takuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Katashima
authors.forename: Jo-Ann
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Chuah
authors.forename: Naofumi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Naga
authors.forename: Takamasa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sakai
mesh_terms: D002460:Cell Line; D006801:Humans; D020100:Hydrogels / Q000737:chemistry*; D008422:Materials Testing; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D010368:Pectins / Q000737:chemistry*; D047011:Silk / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D020100:Hydrogels; D047011:Silk; D010368:Pectins
keywords: biocompatibility; biodegradability; hydrogels; pectin; silk fibroin