Application of silk fibroin coatings for biomaterial surface modification: a silk road for biomedicine

AbstractSilk fibroin (SF) as a natural biopolymer has become a popular material for biomedical applications due to its minimal immunogenicity, tunable biodegradability, and high biocompatibility. Nowadays, various techniques have been developed for the applications of SF in bioengineering. Most of the literature reviews focus on the SF-based biomaterials and their different forms of applications such as films, hydrogels, and scaffolds. SF is also valuable as a coating on other substrate materials for biomedicine; however, there are few reviews related to SF-coated biomaterials. Thus, in this review, we focused on the surface modification of biomaterials using SF coatings, demonstrated their various preparation methods on substrate materials, and introduced the latest procedures. The diverse applications of SF coatings for biomedicine are discussed, including bone, ligament, skin, mucosa, and nerve regeneration, and dental implant surface modification. SF coating is conducive to inducing cell adhesion and migration, promoting hydroxyapatite (HA) deposition and matrix mineralization, and inhibiting the Notch signaling pathway, making it a promising strategy for bone regeneration. In addition, SF-coated composite scaffolds can be considered prospective candidates for ligament regeneration after injury. SF coating has been proven to enhance the mechanical properties of the substrate material, and render integral stability to the dressing material during the regeneration of skin a...
Source: Journal of Zhejiang University. Science. B. - Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: research