Silk Fibroin Composites in Tissue Engineering

Tissue engineering is a branch of regenerative medicine that combines cell biology, materials science, engineering, and clinical research to create artificial tissues that can help restore or replace damaged tissues in the body. By mimicking the natural structure and function of human tissues and providing long-term solutions for tissue repair and regeneration. Metal, ceramic, polymer, and composite materials are the ones which are extensively used in the development of scaffolds for tissue engineering. Among these, natural polymer-based biomaterials have shown significant promise due to their biocompatibility and favorable properties, making them suitable for a wide range of tissue engineering applications. Silk fibroin, a natural protein obtained from silk, consists of 20 different kinds of amino acids, such as serine, glycine, and alanine. SF fibers are 10–25 micrometers wide and are made of two proteins, light and heavy chains in 1:1 ratio, connected by one disulfide bond. Silk fibroin exhibits good biocompatibility, biodegradability when exposed to the body. Silk fibroin is a promising material in tissue engineering. SF has been explored for making films, scaffolds, and hydrogels in various tissue engineering applications, including bone, tendon, cartilage, ligament, skin, nerve, cornea, and eardrum.