2020 Volume 20 Issue 12 Pages 549-556
In regenerative medicine, not only cells and growth factors for regenerating tissues and organs are indispensable, but also tissue engineering materials as a scaffold for cells to reconstruct tissues. The biocompatibility of tissue engineering materials, including immunotoxicity, blood compatibility, tissue compatibility, physical properties, degradability, and inflammatory properties, needs to be optimized according to the transplant site. Various tissue engineering materials able to fulfill these requirements have been reported recently, with silk fibroin being a great candidate.
Silk fibroin is a fiber protein produced by silkworms, and although it is usually collected as a thread, its form can be changed by various molding processes, resulting in films, sponges, nanofibers, and gels. In addition, the mechanical properties and degradability of silk fibroin can differ depending on the processing method, which are important factors for a tissue engineering material.
This review summarizes findings on the degradability and inflammatory properties of silk fibroin, which are both important factors for tissue engineering materials, and showcases applied research on tissue engineering materials based on silk fibroin.
