Nanyang Environment and Water Research Institute, Interdisciplinary Graduate Programme, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore; School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, 639798, Singapore.
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, 639798, Singapore.
Biomaterials. 2025 Mar;314:122878. doi: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2024.122878. Epub 2024 Oct 5.
Interfacial Polyelectrolyte Complexation (IPC) is a convenient way to produce composite, micro-scale fibers. In this paper, we report the successful development of novel keratin-based IPC fibers and also demonstrate the feasibility of using these fibers as sutures through a proof-of-concept in vivo study. Two composite fibers were produced: chitosan-keratin (CK) and keratin-keratin (KK). These fibers were evaluated for their physico-chemical, mechanical and biochemical properties. In the dry state, the CK fiber had a greater Young's modulus of about 2 GPa while the KK fiber registered a longer strain-at-break of about 100 % due to the strain-stiffening effect. Notably, the keratins were found to assemble into amyloids within the composite fibers based on Congo red staining and Wide-Angle X-Ray Scattering. Functionally, both fibers were malleable could be weaved, braided and knotted. When used as sutures to close incisional wounds in mice over 21 days, these fibers were found to elicit minimal host tissue response and were partially degraded over the duration. Interestingly, the KK fiber evoked a lower extent of immune cell response and fibrous capsule encapsulation that was comparable to commercial, non-absorbable Dafilon® sutures. This work demonstrated the possibility of producing keratin-based IPC fibers which may find practicality as medical sutures.
界面聚电解质复合（IPC）是一种制备复合微纤维的便捷方法。本文报道了一种新型角蛋白基 IPC 纤维的成功开发，并通过体内概念验证研究证明了这些纤维作为缝线的可行性。制备了两种复合纤维：壳聚糖-角蛋白（CK）和角蛋白-角蛋白（KK）。评估了这些纤维的物理化学、机械和生物化学性能。在干燥状态下，CK 纤维的杨氏模量约为 2 GPa，而 KK 纤维的断裂伸长率约为 100%，这是由于应变硬化效应。值得注意的是，基于刚果红染色和广角 X 射线散射发现角蛋白在复合纤维中组装成淀粉样纤维。在功能上，两种纤维都具有可塑性，可以编织、编织和打结。当用作缝合线来闭合小鼠的切口伤口 21 天后，发现这些纤维引起的宿主组织反应最小，并在整个过程中部分降解。有趣的是，KK 纤维引起的免疫细胞反应和纤维囊包裹程度较低，与商业不可吸收的 Dafilon®缝线相当。这项工作证明了生产角蛋白基 IPC 纤维的可能性，这些纤维可能在医学缝线方面具有实际应用价值。
