Development of a More Environmentally Friendly Silk Fibroin Scaffold for Soft Tissue Applications

Area of Science:

• Biomaterials Science
• Tissue Engineering
• Green Chemistry

Background:

• Growing environmental concerns drive demand for sustainable biomaterial fabrication.
• Traditional silk fibroin scaffold production uses environmentally taxing chemicals like sodium carbonate and HFIP.
• An integrated green approach for silk fibroin scaffolds for soft tissue regeneration is lacking.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and characterize an integrated environmentally friendly silk fibroin scaffold fabrication method.
• To compare the properties of green silk scaffolds with traditional ones.
• To assess the suitability of green silk scaffolds for soft tissue applications.

Main Methods:

• Utilized sodium hydroxide (NaOH) for silk fibroin degumming as a greener alternative to sodium carbonate.
• Employed an aqueous-based silk fibroin gelation method.
• Evaluated scaffold properties including protein structure, morphology, mechanical strength, degradation, porosity, and cell compatibility.

Main Results:

• Green silk fibroin scaffolds exhibited comparable protein structure, morphology, compressive modulus, and degradation kinetics to traditional scaffolds.
• The environmentally friendly scaffolds demonstrated increased porosity and cell seeding density.
• Human adipose-derived stem cells and adipocytes showed high viability, uniform attachment, and maintained metabolic function in the green scaffolds.

Conclusions:

• The developed NaOH-based degumming and aqueous gelation method provides a viable, environmentally friendly approach to silk fibroin scaffold production.
• These green scaffolds are well-suited for soft tissue engineering applications.
• This approach offers a sustainable alternative without compromising scaffold performance or biological function.