Silk Biomaterials with Vascularization Capacity.
Functional vascularization is critical for the clinical regeneration of complex tissues such as kidney, liver or bone. The immobilization or delivery of growth factors has been explored to improve vascularization capacity of tissue engineered constructs, however, the use of growth factors has inherent problems such as the loss of signaling capability and the risk of complications such as immunological responses and cancer. Here, a new method of preparing water-insoluble silk protein scaffolds with vascularization capacity using an all aqueous process is reported. Acid was added temporally to tune the self-assembly of silk in lyophilization process, resulting in water insoluble scaffold formation directly. These biomaterials are mainly noncrystalline, offering improved cell proliferation than previously reported silk materials. These systems also have appropriate softer mechanical property that could provide physical cues to promote cell differentiation into endothelial cells, and enhance neovascularization and tissue ingrowthin vivowithout the addition of growth factors. Therefore, silk-based degradable scaffolds represent an exciting biomaterial option, with vascularization capacity for soft tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.
National Engineering Laboratory for Modern Silk & Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, College of Textile and Clothing Engineering, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, People's Republic of China.
Hongyan
H
Han
National Engineering Laboratory for Modern Silk & Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, College of Textile and Clothing Engineering, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, People's Republic of China.
Hongyan
H
Ning
National Engineering Laboratory for Modern Silk & Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, College of Textile and Clothing Engineering, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, People's Republic of China.
Shanshan
S
Liu
National Engineering Laboratory for Modern Silk, College of Textile and ClothingEngineering, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, People's Republic of China Lvqiang78@suda.edu.cn.
Qiang
Q
Lu
Department of Orthopedics, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou 215000, People's Republic of China.
Zhihai
Z
Fan
Department of Orthopedics, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou 215000, People's Republic of China.
Haijun
H
Lu
Department of Burns and Plastic Surgery, The third Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, Wuxi 214041, People's Republic of China Luguozhong@hotmail.com.
Guozhong
G
Lu
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USA National Engineering Laboratory for Modern Silk, College of Textile and Clothing Engineering, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, People's Republic of China.
David L
DL
Kaplan
lyophilization; silk; soft tissue engineering; stiffness; vascularization