Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2023 May;7(5):302-318.
doi: 10.1038/s41570-023-00486-x. Epub 2023 Apr 21.

Silk chemistry and biomedical material designs

Jugal Kishore Sahoo  1 , Onur Hasturk  2 , Thomas Falcucci  2 , David L Kaplan  3
Affiliations
Review

Silk chemistry and biomedical material designs

Jugal Kishore Sahoo et al. Nat Rev Chem. 2023 May.

Abstract

Silk fibroin has applications in different medical fields such as tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, drug delivery and medical devices. Advances in silk chemistry and biomaterial designs have yielded exciting tools for generating new silk-based materials and technologies. Selective chemistries can enhance or tune the features of silk, such as mechanics, biodegradability, processability and biological interactions, to address challenges in medically relevant materials (hydrogels, films, sponges and fibres). This Review details the design and utility of silk biomaterials for different applications, with particular focus on chemistry. This Review consists of three segments: silk protein fundamentals, silk chemistries and functionalization mechanisms. This is followed by a description of different crosslinking chemistries facilitating network formation, including the formation of composite biomaterials. Utility in the fields of tissue engineering, drug delivery, 3D printing, cell coatings, microfluidics and biosensors are highlighted. Looking to the future, we discuss silk biomaterial design strategies to continue to improve medical outcomes.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Bucciarelli, A. & Motta, A. Use of Bombyx mori silk fibroin in tissue engineering: from cocoons to medical devices, challenges, and future perspectives. Biomater. Adv. 139, 212982 (2022). - PubMed - DOI
    1. Li, C. et al. Design of biodegradable, implantable devices towards clinical translation. Nat. Rev. Mater. 5, 61–81 (2020). - DOI
    1. Li, C. et al. Fiber‐based biopolymer processing as a route toward sustainability. Adv. Mater. 34, 2105196 (2022). - DOI
    1. Marelli, B. Biomaterials for boosting food security. Science 376, 146–147 (2022). - PubMed - DOI
    1. Post, M. J. et al. Scientific, sustainability and regulatory challenges of cultured meat. Nat. Food 1, 403–415 (2020). - DOI

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources