X. Liu, Z. Toprakcioglu, A. J. Dear, Dr. A. Levin, Dr. F. S. Ruggeri, C. G. Taylor, M. Hu, Dr. J. R. Kumita, Dr. M. Andreasen, Prof. C. M. Dobson, Prof. T. P. J. Knowles, Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Lensfield Road, Cambridge, CB2 1EW, UK.
Dr. M. Andreasen, Aarhus University, Wilhelm Meyer's Allé 3, 8000, Aarhus, Denmark.
Macromol Rapid Commun. 2019 Apr;40(8):e1800898. doi: 10.1002/marc.201800898. Epub 2019 Mar 6.
Silk fibroin is a natural protein obtained from the Bombyx mori silkworm. In addition to being the key structural component in silkworm cocoons, it also has the propensity to self-assemble in vitro into hierarchical structures with desirable properties such as high levels of mechanical strength and robustness. Furthermore, it is an appealing biopolymer due to its biocompatability, low immunogenicity, and lack of toxicity, making it a prime candidate for biomedical material applications. Here, it is demonstrated that nanofibrils formed by reconstituted silk fibroin can be engineered into supramolecular microgels using a soft lithography-based microfluidic approach. Building on these results, a potential application for these protein microgels to encapsulate and release small molecules in a controlled manner is illustrated. Taken together, these results suggest that the tailored self-assembly of biocompatible and biodegradable silk nanofibrils can be used to generate functional micromaterials for a range of potential applications in the biomedical and pharmaceutical fields.
丝素蛋白是一种从家蚕中提取的天然蛋白质。除了是蚕茧的关键结构组成部分外，它还有在体外自组装成具有理想性能的分层结构的倾向，例如高强度和鲁棒性。此外，由于其生物相容性、低免疫原性和无毒，它是生物医学材料应用的理想候选材料。在这里，通过基于软光刻的微流控方法，证明了由重组丝素蛋白形成的纳米原纤维可以被工程化为超分子微凝胶。基于这些结果，说明了这些蛋白质微凝胶在控制小分子包封和释放方面的潜在应用。总之，这些结果表明，生物相容性和可生物降解的丝素纳米原纤维的定制自组装可用于生成用于生物医学和制药领域的各种潜在应用的功能性微材料。
