Journal
MACROMOLECULAR RAPID COMMUNICATIONS
Volume 40, Issue 8, Pages -Publisher
WILEY-V C H VERLAG GMBH
DOI: 10.1002/marc.201800898
Keywords
biopolymer; encapsulation; microfluidics; protein self-assembly; release kinetics
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Funding
- European Research Council under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) through the ERC grant PhysProt [337969]
- FEBS Long-Term Fellowship
- Oppenheimer Early Career Fellowship
- Schiff Foundation
- BBSRC
- Newman Foundation
- Wellcome Trust
- Cambridge Centre for Misfolding Diseases
- BBSRC [BB/J002119/1] Funding Source: UKRI
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Silk fibroin is a natural protein obtained from the Bombyx mori silkworm. In addition to being the key structural component in silkworm cocoons, it also has the propensity to self-assemble in vitro into hierarchical structures with desirable properties such as high levels of mechanical strength and robustness. Furthermore, it is an appealing biopolymer due to its biocompatability, low immunogenicity, and lack of toxicity, making it a prime candidate for biomedical material applications. Here, it is demonstrated that nanofibrils formed by reconstituted silk fibroin can be engineered into supramolecular microgels using a soft lithography-based microfluidic approach. Building on these results, a potential application for these protein microgels to encapsulate and release small molecules in a controlled manner is illustrated. Taken together, these results suggest that the tailored self-assembly of biocompatible and biodegradable silk nanofibrils can be used to generate functional micromaterials for a range of potential applications in the biomedical and pharmaceutical fields.
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