Biomedical Applications of Silkworm Sericin

Biodegradable polymeric membranes are attractive green alternatives to traditionally used artificial polymers, polypropylene suture, etc. and may find varied biomedical applications. Natural composite fiber silk biologically produced by the silkworm named Bombyx mori is structurally comprised of chiefly hydrophobic fibroin protein and hydrophilic glycoprotein sericin. Sericin primarily contains four amino acids, threonine, serine, glycine, and aspartic acid. It has two isoforms, sericin A (17% nitrogen) and sericin B (16.8% nitrogen). Sericin shows its attractive bioactivity because of its variable amino acid content. Recent biomedical applications of sericin stem from its altered amino acid composition and presence of different functional groups. Researchers have already reported sericin-based fibers, films, dressings, sponges, hydrogels, foams, and nanoparticles for plausible pharmaceutical and biomedical applications partnering to wound healing, tissue engineering, drug delivery, etc. This chapter provides a concise description about the development of sericin-based hybrid materials for biomedical applications and its future perspectives.