Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, United States.
Biomacromolecules. 2010 Dec 13;11(12):3219-27. doi: 10.1021/bm100469w. Epub 2010 Nov 8.
Due to their improved biocompatibility and specificity over synthetic materials, protein-based biomaterials, either derived from natural sources or genetically engineered, have been widely fabricated into nanofibrous scaffolds for tissue engineering applications. However, their inferior mechanical properties often require the reinforcement of protein-based tissue scaffolds using synthetic polymers. In this study, we report the electrospinning of a completely recombinant silk-elastinlike protein-based tissue scaffold with excellent mechanical properties and biocompatibility. In particular, SELP-47K containing tandemly repeated polypeptide sequences derived from native silk and elastin was electrospun into nanofibrous scaffolds, and stabilized via chemical vapor treatment and mechanical preconditioning. When fully hydrated in 1× PBS at 37 °C, mechanically preconditioned SELP-47K scaffolds displayed elastic moduli of 3.4-13.2 MPa, ultimate tensile strengths of 5.7-13.5 MPa, deformabilities of 100-130% strain, and resilience of 80.6-86.9%, closely matching or exceeding those of protein-synthetic blend polymeric scaffolds. Additionally, SELP-47K nanofibrous scaffolds promoted cell attachment and growth, demonstrating their in vitro biocompatibility.
由于其在生物相容性和特异性方面优于合成材料，基于蛋白质的生物材料，无论是源自天然来源还是经过基因工程改造的，都已被广泛制成用于组织工程应用的纳米纤维支架。然而，其较差的机械性能通常需要使用合成聚合物来增强基于蛋白质的组织支架。在这项研究中，我们报告了一种具有优异机械性能和生物相容性的完全重组丝弹性蛋白样蛋白基组织支架的静电纺丝。特别是，含有源自天然丝和弹性蛋白的串联重复多肽序列的 SELP-47K 通过化学气相处理和机械预处理被静电纺成纳米纤维支架。当在 37°C 的 1×PBS 中完全水合时，经过机械预处理的 SELP-47K 支架表现出 3.4-13.2 MPa 的弹性模量、5.7-13.5 MPa 的极限拉伸强度、100-130%应变的变形性和 80.6-86.9%的回弹性，与蛋白质-合成混合聚合物支架的性能非常接近或超过。此外，SELP-47K 纳米纤维支架促进了细胞附着和生长，证明了其体外生物相容性。
