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Updated: Mar 26, 2026
Composite Scaffolds of Interfacial Polyelectrolyte Fibers for Temporally Controlled Release of Biomolecules
Published on: August 19, 2015
Silk fibroin/poly (vinyl alcohol) blend scaffolds for controlled delivery of curcumin
Xiaomeng Li1, Jinli Qin1, Jun Ma1
1Advanced Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering Center, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China; Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China.
Abstract:
A silk fibroin/poly (vinyl alcohol) porous scaffold with a water vapor transmission rate of 2125 ± 464 g/m(2)/day has been developed via thermally induced phase separation (gelation) and freeze-drying process. A hierarchical architecture of micropores and nanofibers was observed inside the scaffolds, and the related structures were analyzed. The viability and proliferation of 3T3 fibroblasts were examined, which indicated that the scaffolds exerted low cytotoxicity. After loading curcumin, the scaffolds can suppress the growth of 3T3 fibroblasts. The release behavior of curcumin from the scaffolds was investigated. At pH = 7.2, the release profiles showed no significant difference for the loading amounts of 0.5 mg and 0.25 mg per sample. Meanwhile, the cumulative amount of released drug at pH = 5.7 was significantly more than that in neutral solution due to more degradation of the scaffolds. It was suggested that the silk fibroin/poly (vinyl alcohol) blend scaffolds could be potentially used as wound dressing materials.
