Silk Fibroin
Catalog No: PS014
Size: 20 mL
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| Product Description | Fibroin protein is the major structural component of the silkworm’s cocoon fiber. Fibroin offers great potential for use in medically related applications due to the high degree of biocompatibility and lack of immune response when implanted within the body. The silk fiber is solubilized into an aqueous fibroin solution, which can then be used as an additive in culture or for producing 3D scaffolds for tissue-engineering related studies. As with traditional tissue-engineering approaches, the silk scaffolds are typically seeded in vitro with a specific cell type as most cells will adhere to fibroin protein, and then cultured over time to mimic tissue architecture. It has been shown that the silk fibroin protein can be degraded a number of naturally occurring proteolytic enzymes, and is thus a biologically active scaffold unlike other synthetic materials. As a result the silk scaffold material is degraded and remodeled through similar physiological pathways in the body. Silk fibroin protein is composed of both non-essential and essential amino acids, with a particular concentration of alanine and glycine present, and these amino acids are then reabsorbed by the surrounding cells for new tissue regeneration. This is important as silk degradation products do not collect in the local environment to induce a toxicity which is commonly associated with other synthetic and naturally occurring biomaterials. This product is prepared from silk fibroin extracted from Bombyx mori silkworm cocoons and contains a high monomer content with a molecular weight of approximately 100 kDa. It is supplied as a ~50 mg/mL (5%) aqueous solution. This product is aseptically processed resulting in a low bioburden but is not considered sterile. If culturing cells using this product, measures should be taken to maintain sterility of cultures such as use of antibiotics. This product is shipped separately on dry ice. |
| Application | The ability to produce a variety of forms and formats scaffold types (e.g. coatings, films, sponges, hydrogels, electro-spun fibers, micro/nanospheres, etc.) offers a number of advantages over other biopolymer systems like collagen, chitosan, and alginate that have less variety in processing choices. The silk material properties can then be modified through a variety of processing techniques to change degradation rate, hydrophobicity/hydrophilicity, transparency, mechanical strength, porosity, oxygen permeability, and thermal stability. In this regard, silk proteins represent a class of biopolymers with definable material properties for a given application. |
| State | Solution |
| Concentration | 40-60 mg/mL |
| Storage/Stability | -70 °C |
! For Research/Industry Use Only!