[Research on cytotoxicity of silk fibroin gel materials prepared with polyepoxy compound]

Two kinds of gel materials were prepared from silk fibroin with polyepoxy compound at subfreezing temperature and higher temperature. In order to evaluate the feasibility of their application in biomaterials, we tested the cytotoxicity of silk fibroin gels by detecting the effect of the extracted liquid on the cell relative proliferation rate of L-929 mouse fibroblasts. The results indicated that both of the gel materials displayed high relative proliferation rate and grade 1 cytotoxicity, being in the allowed range of medical application. The cytotoxicity tests on polyepoxy compound and glutaraldehyde were conducted too, and the cytotoxicity of polyepoxy compound was obviously lower than that of glutaraldehyde. Polyepoxy compound can be used as a more safe cross-link reagent for silk fibroin modification.