Bioactive macro/micro porous silk fibroin/Nano-sized calcium phosphate scaffold...

• Author(s): Yan, Leping ; Correia, Joana Silva ; Correia, C. ; Caridade, S. G. ; Fernandes, E. M. ; Sousa, R. A. ; Mano, J. F. ; Oliveira, Joaquim M. ; Oliveira, A. L. ; Reis, R. L.
• Date: 2013
• Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/1822/23649
• Origin: RepositóriUM - Universidade do Minho
• Subject(s): Bone tissue engineering; Calcium phosphate; Nanocomposite; Scaffold; Silk fibroin
• Document Type: Article
• Language: English

Description

Aim: The development of novel silk/nano-sized calcium phosphate (silk/nano-CaP) scaffolds with highly dispersed CaP nanoparticles in the silk fibroin (SF) matrix for bone tissue engineering. Materials & methods: Nano-CaP was incorporated in a concentrated aqueous SF solution (16 wt.%) by using an in situ synthesis method. The silk/nano-CaP scaffolds were then prepared through a combination of salt-leaching/ lyophilization approaches. Results: The CaP particles presented good affinity to SF and their size was inferior to 200 nm when theoretical CaP/silk ratios were between 4 and 16 wt.%, as determined by scanning electron microscopy. The CaP particles displayed a uniform distribution in the scaffolds at both microscopic and macroscopic scales as observed by backscattered scanning electron microscopy and micro-computed tomography, respectively. The prepared scaffolds presented self-mineralization capability and no cytotoxicity confirmed by in vitro bioactivity tests and cell viability assays, respectively. Conclusion: These results indicated that the produced silk/nano-CaP scaffolds could be suitable candidates for bone-tissueengineering applications.