Autoclaving as a chemical-free process to stabilize recombinant silk-elastinlike protein polymer nanofibers

We report here that autoclaving is a chemical-free, physical crosslinking strategy capable of stabilizing electrospun recombinant silk-elastinlike protein (SELP) polymer nanofibers. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy showed that the autoclaving of SELP nanofibers induced a conformational conversion of beta-turns and unordered structures to ordered beta-sheets. Tensile stress-strain analysis of the autoclaved SELP nanofibrous scaffolds in phosphate buffered saline at 37 degrees C revealed a Young's modulus of 1.02 +/- 0.28 MPa, an ultimate tensile strength of 0.34 +/- 0.04 MPa, and a strain at failure of 29% +/- 3%. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3604786]