Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
21
A Preliminary In Vivo Study on the
Histocompatibility of Silk Fibroin
Lu Yan
1
, Zhao Xia
1
, Shao Zhengzhong
2
, Cao Zhengbing
2
and Cai Lihui
1
1
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai
2
Department of Macromolecule Science, Fudan University, Shanghai,
China
1. Introduction
Biomaterials used for tissue engineering should have the property of good
histocompatibility, superb plasticity and desired degradability, so that it can be extensively
applied for defect tissue repairing with excellent clinical outcome. In the past decade, silk
fibroin has become one of the most favored biomaterials for its wide availability, superb
performance and readiness to be shaped for different purposes in tissue engineering
[1-14],
.
Porous scaffolds made by silk fibroin can be made into different pore size and porosity to
serve for different needs of tissue repairing. The porous structure may contribute to the
mass exchange in the scaffolds. However, the implanted protein scaffolds will degrade and
can hardly be separated from host tissues. Therefore, little has been reported on
histocompatibility experiment in vivo for silk fibroin
[15-22]
.
In this chapter, progress in study of silk fibroin scaffold in tissue engineering application
and biocompatibility research will be introduced, then our histocompatibility experiment of
porous scaffolds will be reported. In our experiment, porous scaffolds were made platy and
buried in subcutaneous part of the back of SD rat. Tissue reaction was observed, and the
value of silk fibroin as tissue engineering scaffold material was discussed.
2. The application of silk fibroin in tissue engineering
It is known to all that the application of silk production as un-absorb suture has many
years of history. Along with the progress of tissue engineering techniques, scientists can
extract natural polymeric materials- fibroin from silk and make it into different forms to
fit various needs of tissue engineering
[1]
. Vitro studies show silk fibroin is biodegradable.
The speed and degree of degradation can be adjusted through changing physicochemical
property
[2-4]
. The product of degradation is mainly free amino acid and has no toxic side-
effect on tissue.
Silk fibroin can be easily made into different forms to serve for various needs such as
membrane, gelatum, knitting scaffold, porous scaffold and electrospinning scaffold.
Therefore, it has been gradually utilized in various medical field such as drug delivery
[5,6]
,
nerve regeneration
[7-9]
, dermis healing
[10]
, artificial ligament repair
[11,12]
, bone or cartilage
healing
[13.14]
, vascular tissue engineering
[15,16]
, otology application
[17]
and so on.
