Amino Acid Surfactant-Induced Superfast Gelation of Silk Fibroin for Treating Noncompressible Hemorrhage

The gelation of silk fibroin (SF) aqueous solution cross-linked by externally induced beta-sheets generally takes longer times, and requires relatively strict conditions, limiting their biomedical application possibilities. Here, a simplified and straightforward strategy is proposed to induce superfast gelation of SF by a biocompatible Food and Drug Administration-approved amino acid surfactant, ethyl lauroyl arginine hydrochloride (LAE). The gelation time is as short as 15 s at 60 degrees C and falls within 1 min around body temperature. The distinct pathway and thermodynamics of superfast gelation of SF is deciphered, and three important factors including superfast and complete unfolding, heterogeneous nucleation seeds, and faster formation of more beta-sheets that are crucial for superfast SF assembly are revealed. The LAE-induced in situ superfast gelation mechanism is first harnessed to fabricate an injectable antibacterial biodegradable hemostatic hydrogel for treatment of noncompressible liver bleeding. The amphiphilicity of LAE and superfast gelation is exploited to quickly entrap different sizes of air bubbles in the upper and lower part of the hydrogel, which is then lyophilized to form an asymmetric hierarchical porous SF-LAE sponge, where the large pores serve to drain blood, and dense pores prevent the outflow of blood to seal the wound.

Automated summary

This study proposes a strategy to induce superfast gelation of silk fibroin using the surfactant LAE, creating new possibilities for biomedical applications. LAE can quickly gelate SF and can be applied to prepare injectable antibacterial biodegradable hemostatic hydrogels.