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Updated: Dec 28, 2025
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Microfluidic Dry-spinning and Characterization of Regenerated Silk Fibroin Fibers
Published on: September 4, 2017
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Silk Particle Production Based on silk/PVA Phase Separation Using a Microfabricated Co-flow Device.
Natalia Vargas Montoya1, Rachel Peterson1, Kimberly J Ornell1
1Department of Biomedical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA 01609, USA.
Molecules (Basel, Switzerland)
|February 22, 2020
Summary
Microfluidics enable precise control over silk particle fabrication for drug delivery. These biocompatible silk microparticles demonstrate sustained doxorubicin release and cellular uptake, showing potential for cancer therapy.
Area of Science:
- Biomaterials Science
- Drug Delivery Systems
- Microfluidics
Background:
- Polymeric microparticles are suitable for targeted drug delivery due to their size.
- Silk fibroin is a promising biocompatible material for biomedical applications.
- Previous silk particle fabrication relied on emulsion methods with poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA).
Purpose of the Study:
- To design and characterize microfluidic devices for silk particle production.
- To investigate the effect of microfluidic parameters on silk particle size and polydispersity index (PDI).
- To evaluate the drug-binding, sustained release, and cellular interaction of fabricated silk particles.
Main Methods:
- Fabrication of silk particles using polydimethylsiloxane-based microfluidic devices.
- Utilizing PVA to induce silk self-association and phase separation.
- Characterization of particle size, PDI, drug loading, and release kinetics.
- Assessment of doxorubicin cytotoxicity and cellular internalization of silk particles.
Main Results:
- Microfluidic devices produced silk particles with significantly lower PDI compared to emulsion methods.
- Flow rate and silk concentration in microfluidics precisely controlled particle size and PDI.
- Silk particles exhibited sustained doxorubicin release over 23 days with high loading capacity.
- Internalization of silk particles by macrophages and increased TNF-α secretion were observed.
Conclusions:
- Microfluidics offer a robust method for fabricating silk particles with controlled size and distribution.
- Silk particles demonstrate potential as effective drug delivery vehicles for cancer therapy.
- The developed silk particles are suitable for various biomedical applications, including targeting tumor microenvironments.
