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Vortex-induced injectable silk fibroin hydrogels.

Tuna Yucel1, Peggy Cebe, David L Kaplan

  • 1Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts, USA.

Biophysical Journal
|October 7, 2009
PubMed
Summary
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Researchers developed a novel vortexing technique to control silk protein hydrogel formation. This method precisely tunes beta-sheet content and hydrogelation kinetics for applications like injectable cell delivery scaffolds.

Area of Science:

  • Biomaterials Science
  • Protein Engineering
  • Biotechnology

Background:

  • Silk fibroin solutions typically exist in a random coil state.
  • Controlling silk protein self-assembly is crucial for biomaterial development.
  • Existing methods for silk hydrogelation lack precise kinetic control.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To develop a novel technique for controlling beta-sheet formation and hydrogelation kinetics in silk solutions.
  • To investigate the relationship between protein structure, self-assembly, and viscoelastic properties.
  • To assess the potential of silk hydrogels for injectable cell delivery.

Main Methods:

  • Aqueous native silk solutions were vortexed to induce conformational changes.
  • Circular dichroism spectroscopy analyzed protein secondary structure transitions.

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  • Dynamic oscillatory rheology measured changes in viscoelastic properties and hydrogel formation.
  • Vortex time, temperature, and protein concentration were systematically varied.

    • Main Results:

    • Vortexing induced a transition from random coil to beta-sheet rich structures in silk proteins.
    • Increased beta-sheet content directly correlated with enhanced hydrogelation and viscoelasticity.
    • Vortexing rapidly formed rigid silk hydrogels (G* ~70 kPa at 5.2 wt%) with physical crosslinks.
    • Hydrogelation kinetics were tunable from minutes to hours via vortex parameters.

    Conclusions:

    • Vortex-induced beta-sheet formation offers precise control over silk hydrogelation kinetics.
    • The resulting hydrogels exhibit tunable stiffness and rapid recovery, suitable for injection.
    • This technique provides a versatile platform for developing injectable silk-based scaffolds for cell delivery.