A Programmable Braided Silk-Glass Fiber Ligament Promoting Rapid Motoric Recovery

Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction and related soft-hard tissue repairs remain challenged by grafts that either lack the characteristic "J-shaped" stress-strain profile or sacrifice compliance for stiffness while also offering poor biological integration. Here, we report a silk-glass fiber (SF-GF) hybrid ligament fabricated by scalable three-dimensional braiding, combining industrially available glass fibers with biocompatible silk. By tuning the braiding angle ( ${15}^{\circ }$ - ${45}^{\circ }$ ), the grafts exhibit programmable nonlinear mechanics and viscoelasticity. This design closely replicates the strain-stiffening response and long-term creep resistance of native ligaments. Silk-rich domains promote osseoligamentous integration and osteogenic differentiation, while glass fibers provide high strength and bases for biomimetic mineralization. In rabbit ACL reconstruction, the angle-optimized SF-GFs facilitated prompt tendon-bone healing and restored functional jumping ability within 4 weeks. Finite element modeling rationalizes the strain-dependent load transfer from silk to glass fibers, underlying the characteristic "J-shaped" response. Importantly, this material-structure co-design leverages mass-producible components and a manufacturable braiding process, facilitating translational potentials beyond ACL reconstruction toward diverse soft-hard tissue repairs.