Silk fibroin/chitosan scaffold with tunable properties and low inflammatory response assists the differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells.

The physical and chemical properties of the scaffold are known to play important roles in three-dimensional (3D) cell culture, which always determine the cellular fate or the results of implantation. To control these properties becomes necessary for meeting the requirements of a variety of tissue engineering applications. In this study, a series of silk fibroin/chitosan (SF/CS) scaffolds with tunable properties were prepared using freeze-drying method, and the rat bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) were seeded in these scaffolds to evaluate their availability of use in tissue engineering. The 3D structure, mechanical properties and degradation ability of SF/CS scaffold can be tuned by changing the total concentration of the precursor solution and the blending ratio between SF and CS. BM-MSCs cultured in the SF/CS scaffold exhibited excellent proliferation and multiple morphologies. The induction of osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation of BM-MSCs were successful in this scaffold when cultured in vitro. Subcutaneous implantation of the SF/CS scaffolds did not cause any inflammatory response within four weeks, which revealed good compatibility. Moreover, the implanted scaffold allowed host cells to invade, adhere, grow and form new blood vessels. With these excellent performance, SF/CS scaffold has great potential in preparing implants for tissue engineering applications.