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Manufacture and Drug Delivery Applications of Silk Nanoparticles
Published on: October 8, 2016
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Design, Fabrication, and Function of Silk-Based Nanomaterials.
Yu Wang1, Jin Guo2, Liang Zhou3
1Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, MA 02155, USA.
Advanced Functional Materials
|May 23, 2020
Summary
Animal silks achieve superior mechanical properties through hierarchical self-assembly of silk proteins into unique nanoarchitectures. Understanding these natural silk structures offers insights for creating advanced silk nanomaterials.
Area of Science:
- Biomaterials Science
- Materials Engineering
- Nanotechnology
Background:
- Animal silks, composed of proteins, exhibit exceptional mechanical properties surpassing many synthetic materials.
- Their performance is attributed to intricate nanoarchitectures formed by hierarchical self-assembly of silk proteins.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the crucial role of silk nanoarchitectures in natural silk fiber properties and function.
- To outline strategies for utilizing silk nanoscale building blocks.
- To summarize the current state of creating silk nanoarchitectures and silk-based nanocomponents.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing literature on silk fabrication and nanoarchitecture.
- Analysis of strategies for controlling silk fibroin (SF) nanostructures.
- Synthesis of current advancements in creating silk-based nanocomponents.
Main Results:
- Natural silk's superior strength and toughness stem from hierarchical self-assembly of silk proteins.
- Fabrication strategies are emerging to control silk nanostructures and create functional nanomaterials.
- Silk fibroin's nanoscale tailoring offers a route to optimized silk nanomaterials.
Conclusions:
- Silk nanoarchitectures are key to natural silk's remarkable properties.
- Emerging fabrication techniques enable the creation of tailored silk nanomaterials.
- Insights from silk nanoarchitectures can inform the design of other material systems.
