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Production of Functional Materials Derived from Regenerated Silk Fibroin by Utilizing 3D Printing and Biomimetic Enzyme-induced Mineralization

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Abstract

Critical-sized bone defects, commonly encountered in clinical orthopedic surgery, present a significant challenge. One of the promising solutions is to prepare synthetic bone substitute materials with precise structural control, mechanical compatibility, and enhanced osteogenic induction performance, nevertheless the successful preparation of such materials remains difficult. In this study, a two-step technique, integrating an extrusion-based printing process with biomimetic mineralization induced by alkaline phosphatase (ALP), was developed. Initially, a pre-cured hydrogel of regenerated silk fibroin (RSF) with a small quantity of hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC) and ALP was prepared through heating the mixed aqueous solution. This pre-cured hydrogel demonstrated thixotropic property and could be directly extruded into predetermined structures through a 3D-printer. Subsequently, the 3D-printed RSF-based materials with ALP underwent biomimetic in situ mineralization in calcium glycerophosphate (Ca-GP) mineralizing solution, utilizing the polymer chains of RSF as templates and ALP as a trigger for cleaving phosphate bonds of Ca-GP. The resulting 3D-printed RSF-mineral composites including hydrogel and sponge possessed adjustable compression modulus of megapascal grade and variable hydroxyapatite content, which could be controlled by manipulating the duration of the mineralization process. Moreover, these 3D-printed RSF-mineral composites demonstrated non-cytotoxicity towards rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells. Therefore, they may hold great potential for applications involving the replacement of tissues characterized by osteoinductivity and intricate structures.

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by the National Nature Science Foundation of China (No. 21935002). We also sincerely thank Gao Han (Ph.D candidate) at Fudan University for his support in cell experiment.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers, Laboratory of Advanced Materials and Department of Macromolecular Science, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, China

    Ni Chen, Fei-Yu Luo, Gong-Wen Yang, Jin-Rong Yao, Xin Chen & Zheng-Zhong Shao

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  1. Ni Chen
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  2. Fei-Yu Luo
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  5. Xin Chen
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Correspondence to Zheng-Zhong Shao.

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Zheng-Zhong Shao is an editorial board member for Chinese Journal of Polymer Science and was not involved in the editorial review or the decision to publish this article. All authors declare that there are no competing interests.

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Production of Functional Materials Derived from Regenerated Silk Fibroin by Utilizing 3D Printing and Biomimetic Enzyme-induced Mineralization

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Chen, N., Luo, FY., Yang, GW. et al. Production of Functional Materials Derived from Regenerated Silk Fibroin by Utilizing 3D Printing and Biomimetic Enzyme-induced Mineralization. Chin J Polym Sci 42, 299–310 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10118-023-3059-3

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