Biomimetic spinning of silk fibers and in situ cell encapsulation.
In situ embedding of sensitive materials (e.g., cells and proteins) in silk fibers without damage presents a significant challenge due to the lack of mild and efficient methods. Here, we report the development of a microfluidic chip-based method for preparation of meter-long silk fibroin (SF) hydrogel fibers by mimicking the silkworm-spinning process. For the spinning of SF fibers, alginate was used as a sericin-like material to induce SF phase separation and entrap liquid SFs, making it possible to shape the outline of SF-based fibers under mild physicochemical conditions. L929 fibroblasts were encapsulated in the fibric hydrogel and displayed excellent viability. Cell-laden SF fibric hydrogels prepared using our method offer a new type of SF-based biomedical device with potential utility in biomedicine.
Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Health Science, Korea University, Seoul, 136-713, Republic of Korea.
Jie
J
Cheng
KU-KIST Graduate School of Converging Science and Technology, Korea University, Seoul, 136-713, Republic of Korea. dbiomed@korea.ac.kr.
DoYeun
D
Park
KU-KIST Graduate School of Converging Science and Technology, Korea University, Seoul, 136-713, Republic of Korea. dbiomed@korea.ac.kr.
Yesl
Y
Jun
KU-KIST Graduate School of Converging Science and Technology, Korea University, Seoul, 136-713, Republic of Korea. dbiomed@korea.ac.kr.
JaeSeo
J
Lee
Department of Biosystems and Biomaterials Science and Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, 151-921, Republic of Korea. jhyun@snu.ac.kr.
Jinho
J
Hyun
Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Health Science, Korea University, Seoul, 136-713, Republic of Korea and KU-KIST Graduate School of Converging Science and Technology, Korea University, Seoul, 136-713, Republic of Korea. dbiomed@korea.ac.kr.
Sang-Hoon
SH
Lee
D000464:Alginates / Q000737:chemistry; D000818:Animals; D032701:Biomimetics / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D002460:Cell Line; D002470:Cell Survival; D005347:Fibroblasts; D005349:Fibroins / Q000737:chemistry; D020723:Glucuronic Acid / Q000737:chemistry; D006603:Hexuronic Acids / Q000737:chemistry; D020100:Hydrogels / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry*; D056656:Lab-On-A-Chip Devices; D051379:Mice; D008823:Micelles; D047011:Silk / Q000737:chemistry*
D000464:Alginates; D006603:Hexuronic Acids; D020100:Hydrogels; D008823:Micelles; D047011:Silk; D020723:Glucuronic Acid; D005349:Fibroins