Functional silk fibroin hydrogels: preparation, properties and applications

The present study examines the influence of the hydrophilic–lipophilic environment, mediated by small molecules, on the structural changes in silk protein fibroin.

Download Full-text

Biosynthesis of β-Glucosidase-Silk Fibroin Nanoparticles Conjugates and Enzymatic Characteristics

Advanced Materials Research ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/amr.175-176.186 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 175-176 ◽

pp. 186-191 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Zhen Zhen Zhou ◽

Yu Qing Zhang

Keyword(s):

Silk Fibroin ◽

Water Soluble ◽

Silk Protein ◽

Free Enzyme ◽

Cross Linking ◽

Experimental Conditions ◽

Protein Nanoparticles ◽

Silk Fibroin Nanoparticles ◽

Long Time ◽

Molecular Masses

Silk fibroin derived from Bombyx mori is a biomacromolecular protein with outstanding biocompatibility. When it was dissolved in highly concentrated CaCl2 solution and then the mixture of the protein and salt was subjected to desalting treatments for long time in flowing water, the resulting liquid silk was water-soluble polypeptides with different molecular masses, ranging from 10 to 200 kDa. When the liquid silk were introduced rapidly into acetone, silk protein nanoparticles (SFNs) with a range of 40~120 nm in diameter could be obtained. The crystalline silk nanoparticles could be conjugated with β-glucosidase with cross-linking of reagent glutaraldehyde. In this work, the activity of β-glucosidase-silk fibroin nanoparticles (βG-SFNs) bioconjugates was determined by p-nitrophenyl-β-D-glucoside (p-NPG) as a substrate and the optimal conditions for the biosynthesis of βG-SFNs bioconjugates were investigated. βG-SFN constructs obtained by 5h of covalent cross-linking time at the experimental conditions of 0.25% cross-linking reagent, 37 °C and the proportion of β-glucosidase and SFNs (75 : 100, U/mg) showed 46% of recoveries. Results showed that kinetic parameters of βG-SFNs were the same as for the free β-glucosidase. The optimal pH was 5.0 and the optimal temperature was 60°C. When β-glucosidase was coupled covalently with silk nanoparticles, the thermal stability of βG-SFNs was slightly enhanced as compared with free β-glucosidase. The apparent Km of βG-SFNs (1.41×10-3 mol•L-1) was near five-fold less than that of the free enzyme (7.26×10−3 mol•L-1), this fully shows that after the free enzyme conjugated with silk fibroin nanoparticles, the enzyme affinity with substrate increased. These results fully demonstrated the silk protein nanoparticles were good carriers as bioconjugation or modification of enzymes. Moreover, they had potential values for research and development in food processing and flavor processing agents.

Download Full-text

Silk Particles as Carriers of Therapeutic Molecules for Cancer Treatment

Materials ◽

10.3390/ma13214946 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 13 (21) ◽

pp. 4946

Author(s):

Anna Florczak ◽

Inga Grzechowiak ◽

Tomasz Deptuch ◽

Kamil Kucharczyk ◽

Alicja Kaminska ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Drug Delivery ◽

Cancer Treatment ◽

Cancer Cells ◽

Silk Fibroin ◽

Drug Delivery Systems ◽

Inorganic Compounds ◽

Release Kinetics ◽

Drug Loading ◽

Delivery Systems ◽

Current Status

Although progress is observed in cancer treatment, this disease continues to be the second leading cause of death worldwide. The current understanding of cancer indicates that treating cancer should not be limited to killing cancer cells alone, but that the target is the complex tumor microenvironment (TME). The application of nanoparticle-based drug delivery systems (DDS) can not only target cancer cells and TME, but also simultaneously resolve the severe side effects of various cancer treatment approaches, leading to more effective, precise, and less invasive therapy. Nanoparticles based on proteins derived from silkworms’ cocoons (like silk fibroin and sericins) and silk proteins from spiders (spidroins) are intensively explored not only in the oncology field. This natural-derived material offer biocompatibility, biodegradability, and simplicity of preparation methods. The protein-based material can be tailored for size, stability, drug loading/release kinetics, and functionalized with targeting ligands. This review summarizes the current status of drug delivery systems’ development based on proteins derived from silk fibroin, sericins, and spidroins, which application is focused on systemic cancer treatment. The nanoparticles that deliver chemotherapeutics, nucleic acid-based therapeutics, natural-derived agents, therapeutic proteins or peptides, inorganic compounds, as well as photosensitive molecules, are introduced.

Download Full-text