초록 |
Silk fibroin (SF) is an attractive biomaterial in different areas of biomedical engineering because of its distinct features like biocompatibility, aqueous processability, strong mechanical properties and tunable biodegradation. Here, we introduced simple sugars onto the silk chains using different modification chemistries with varying substitution efficiencies. The modification pathways dictate sugar substitution and thereby final biomaterial properties. The modified biomaterials are structurally characterized by different techniques such as 1H-NMR, LC-MS, Water contact angle measurement, FTIR to confirm, validate and quantify sugar substitution onto the silk chain. In addition, the aqueous processability of the modified constructs into different material formats (films, sponges etc.) were assessed and investigated their cell-viability. The methods described are robust, can be generalized to complex carbohydrates and upscaled as desired. These findings could expand the options to synthesize novel biomaterials (silk and other similar protein biopolymers) that could find application in different areas of biomedical engineering as tissue mimics, as biomimetic coatings, and as non-fouling biomaterials. |