Silk Fibroin as Adjuvant in the Fabrication of Mechanically Stable Fibrin Biocomposites
Fibrin is a very attractive material for the development of tissue-engineered scaffolds due to its exceptional bioactivity, versatility in the fabrication, affinity to cell mediators; and the possibility to isolate it from blood plasma, making it autologous. However, fibrin application is greatly li...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-05-01
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| Series: | Polymers |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/14/11/2251 |
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| author | Ikram El Maachi Stavroula Kyriakou Stephan Rütten Alexander Kopp Marius Köpf Stefan Jockenhoevel Alicia Fernández-Colino |
| author_facet | Ikram El Maachi Stavroula Kyriakou Stephan Rütten Alexander Kopp Marius Köpf Stefan Jockenhoevel Alicia Fernández-Colino |
| author_sort | Ikram El Maachi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Fibrin is a very attractive material for the development of tissue-engineered scaffolds due to its exceptional bioactivity, versatility in the fabrication, affinity to cell mediators; and the possibility to isolate it from blood plasma, making it autologous. However, fibrin application is greatly limited due to its low mechanical properties, fast degradation, and strong contraction in the presence of cells. In this study, we present a new strategy to overcome these drawbacks by combining it with another natural polymer: silk fibroin. Specifically, we fabricated biocomposites of fibrin (5 mg/mL) and silk fibroin (0.1, 0.5 and 1% <i>w</i>/<i>w</i>) by using a dual injection system, followed by ethanol annealing. The shear elastic modulus increased from 23 ± 5 Pa from fibrin alone, to 67 ± 22 Pa for fibrin/silk fibroin 0.1%, 241 ± 67 Pa for fibrin/silk fibroin 0.5% and 456 ± 32 Pa for fibrin/silk fibroin 1%. After culturing for 27 days with strong contractile cells (primary human arterial smooth muscle cells), fibrin/silk fibroin 0.5% and fibrin/silk fibroin 1% featured minimal cell-mediated contraction (ca. 15 and 5% respectively) in contrast with the large surface loss of the pure fibrin scaffolds (ca. 95%). Additionally, the composites enabled the formation of a proper endothelial cell layer after culturing with human primary endothelial cells under standard culture conditions. Overall, the fibrin/silk fibroin composites, manufactured within this study by a simple and scalable biofabrication approach, offer a promising avenue to boost the applicability of fibrin in tissue engineering. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T00:56:32Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-393572ab5f954e9ca53280fea46a817e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4360 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T00:56:32Z |
| publishDate | 2022-05-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Polymers |
| spelling | doaj.art-393572ab5f954e9ca53280fea46a817e2023-11-23T14:41:58ZengMDPI AGPolymers2073-43602022-05-011411225110.3390/polym14112251Silk Fibroin as Adjuvant in the Fabrication of Mechanically Stable Fibrin BiocompositesIkram El Maachi0Stavroula Kyriakou1Stephan Rütten2Alexander Kopp3Marius Köpf4Stefan Jockenhoevel5Alicia Fernández-Colino6Department of Biohybrid & Medical Textiles (BioTex), AME-Institute of Applied Medical Engineering, Helmholtz Institute, RWTH Aachen University, D-52074 Aachen, GermanyDepartment of Biohybrid & Medical Textiles (BioTex), AME-Institute of Applied Medical Engineering, Helmholtz Institute, RWTH Aachen University, D-52074 Aachen, GermanyElectron Microscopy Facility, Uniklinik RWTH Aachen, D-52074 Aachen, GermanyFibrothelium GmbH, D-52068 Aachen, GermanyFibrothelium GmbH, D-52068 Aachen, GermanyDepartment of Biohybrid & Medical Textiles (BioTex), AME-Institute of Applied Medical Engineering, Helmholtz Institute, RWTH Aachen University, D-52074 Aachen, GermanyDepartment of Biohybrid & Medical Textiles (BioTex), AME-Institute of Applied Medical Engineering, Helmholtz Institute, RWTH Aachen University, D-52074 Aachen, GermanyFibrin is a very attractive material for the development of tissue-engineered scaffolds due to its exceptional bioactivity, versatility in the fabrication, affinity to cell mediators; and the possibility to isolate it from blood plasma, making it autologous. However, fibrin application is greatly limited due to its low mechanical properties, fast degradation, and strong contraction in the presence of cells. In this study, we present a new strategy to overcome these drawbacks by combining it with another natural polymer: silk fibroin. Specifically, we fabricated biocomposites of fibrin (5 mg/mL) and silk fibroin (0.1, 0.5 and 1% <i>w</i>/<i>w</i>) by using a dual injection system, followed by ethanol annealing. The shear elastic modulus increased from 23 ± 5 Pa from fibrin alone, to 67 ± 22 Pa for fibrin/silk fibroin 0.1%, 241 ± 67 Pa for fibrin/silk fibroin 0.5% and 456 ± 32 Pa for fibrin/silk fibroin 1%. After culturing for 27 days with strong contractile cells (primary human arterial smooth muscle cells), fibrin/silk fibroin 0.5% and fibrin/silk fibroin 1% featured minimal cell-mediated contraction (ca. 15 and 5% respectively) in contrast with the large surface loss of the pure fibrin scaffolds (ca. 95%). Additionally, the composites enabled the formation of a proper endothelial cell layer after culturing with human primary endothelial cells under standard culture conditions. Overall, the fibrin/silk fibroin composites, manufactured within this study by a simple and scalable biofabrication approach, offer a promising avenue to boost the applicability of fibrin in tissue engineering.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/14/11/2251protein-based polymersscaffoldscell-adhesionbioprocessingmechanical stabilitytissue engineering |
| spellingShingle | Ikram El Maachi Stavroula Kyriakou Stephan Rütten Alexander Kopp Marius Köpf Stefan Jockenhoevel Alicia Fernández-Colino Silk Fibroin as Adjuvant in the Fabrication of Mechanically Stable Fibrin Biocomposites Polymers protein-based polymers scaffolds cell-adhesion bioprocessing mechanical stability tissue engineering |
| title | Silk Fibroin as Adjuvant in the Fabrication of Mechanically Stable Fibrin Biocomposites |
| title_full | Silk Fibroin as Adjuvant in the Fabrication of Mechanically Stable Fibrin Biocomposites |
| title_fullStr | Silk Fibroin as Adjuvant in the Fabrication of Mechanically Stable Fibrin Biocomposites |
| title_full_unstemmed | Silk Fibroin as Adjuvant in the Fabrication of Mechanically Stable Fibrin Biocomposites |
| title_short | Silk Fibroin as Adjuvant in the Fabrication of Mechanically Stable Fibrin Biocomposites |
| title_sort | silk fibroin as adjuvant in the fabrication of mechanically stable fibrin biocomposites |
| topic | protein-based polymers scaffolds cell-adhesion bioprocessing mechanical stability tissue engineering |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/14/11/2251 |
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