Shibata Maho, Okahisa Yoko
Department of Biobased Materials Science, Graduate School of Science and Technology, Kyoto Institute of Technology, Matsugasaki Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8585, Japan.
Fibre Science and Engineering, Kyoto Institute of Technology, Matsugasaki Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8585, Japan.
Heliyon. 2024 Oct 10;10(20):e39101. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e39101. eCollection 2024 Oct 30.
Gelatine hydrogels exhibit potential as biomaterials such as wound-healing materials, artificial organs, scaffolds for cell culture and drug delivery systems because of their good biocompatibility. However, their practical applications are limited by their poor mechanical properties and high degradability. In this study, mechanically fibrillated silk fibroin (fibroin nanofibers; FNF) was used to reinforce gelatine hydrogels. The resulting gelatine hydrogels with FNF exhibited enhanced toughness compared to those reinforced with conventional aqueous regenerated fibroin (RF), which were prepared by treatment with a highly concentrated LiBr solvent or a neat gelatine hydrogel while retaining their softness. The average pore size of the gelatine hydrogel was 2.2 μm, while the gelatine hydrogel containing 25 % FNF expanded to 6.7 μm. A web-like network was formed between the pores. The addition of FNF increased the relative -sheet contents in the hydrogels to 60.3 %, suggesting that this may have caused structural changes such as increased crystallinity for gelatine-derived proteins. Furthermore, the addition of FNF inhibited the rapid enzymatic degradation of gelatine hydrogels. FNF, which can be easily prepared in water, is a safe material for both the environment and living organisms and holds promise as a biomaterial in the future.
由于具有良好的生物相容性，明胶水凝胶作为生物材料展现出了潜力，例如可用于伤口愈合材料、人造器官、细胞培养支架和药物递送系统。然而，其实际应用受到较差的机械性能和高降解性的限制。在本研究中，机械原纤化的丝素蛋白（丝素蛋白纳米纤维；FNF）被用于增强明胶水凝胶。与用传统的水性再生丝素蛋白（RF）增强的明胶水凝胶相比，所得含FNF的明胶水凝胶表现出更高的韧性，传统的水性再生丝素蛋白是通过用高浓度溴化锂溶剂处理制备的，或者是纯明胶水凝胶，而含FNF的明胶水凝胶在保持柔软性的同时增强了韧性。明胶水凝胶的平均孔径为2.2μm，而含有25%FNF的明胶水凝胶扩展到了6.7μm。在孔隙之间形成了一种网状网络。FNF的添加使水凝胶中β-片层的相对含量增加到60.3%，这表明这可能导致了诸如明胶衍生蛋白质结晶度增加等结构变化。此外，FNF的添加抑制了明胶水凝胶的快速酶促降解。FNF可以很容易地在水中制备，对环境和生物体都是一种安全的材料，有望在未来成为一种生物材料。
