In situ biomineralization by silkworm feeding with ion precursors for the improved mechanical properties of silk fiber

Zhenhu Guo; Wensheng Xie; Qin Gao; Dan Wang; Fei Gao; Shengrong Li; Lingyun Zhao

doi:10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2017.12.029

In situ biomineralization by silkworm feeding with ion precursors for the improved mechanical properties of silk fiber

Int J Biol Macromol. 2018 Apr 1:109:21-26. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2017.12.029. Epub 2017 Dec 6.

Authors

Zhenhu Guo¹, Wensheng Xie², Qin Gao², Dan Wang², Fei Gao², Shengrong Li³, Lingyun Zhao⁴

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Advanced Materials, Ministry of Education of China, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China; State Key Laboratory of New Ceramics and Fine Processing, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China; School of Earth Science and Resources, China University of Geosciences, Beijing, 100083, China.
² Key Laboratory of Advanced Materials, Ministry of Education of China, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China; State Key Laboratory of New Ceramics and Fine Processing, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China.
³ School of Earth Science and Resources, China University of Geosciences, Beijing, 100083, China. Electronic address: lisr@cugb.edu.cn.
⁴ Key Laboratory of Advanced Materials, Ministry of Education of China, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China; State Key Laboratory of New Ceramics and Fine Processing, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China. Electronic address: lyzhao@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn.

PMID: 29223755
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2017.12.029

Abstract

Possessing excellent biocompatibility, biodegradability and good reactive activity, silk fiber has been attracting great attention in biomedicine including surgical suture, drug delivery and tissue engineering. So far, several protocols have been developed to further improve the mechanical properties of the silk fiber. In current study, a novel in suit biomineralization strategy was developed to produce nano-hydroxyapatite (HA) strengthened silk fiber based on the natural alkaline condition in the body of silkworm by feeding the silkworm with ion precursors of Ca²⁺ and PO₄^3- ions. Our observation proved that nanocomposite silk fiber contained more α-helix and random coil structures and fewer β-sheets. Tensile test showed that such obtained silk fiber has superior mechanical properties compared to normal silk fiber. To the best of our knowledge, no attempts have been made to fabricate the nanocomposite SF by in situ biomineralization and such protocol established in the current study may shed light on the investigation of nanoparticles reinforced silk fiber organisms of Bombyx mori.

Keywords: Mechanical property; Nano-hydroxyapatite; Silk fiber; in situ biomineralization.

MeSH terms

Animal Feed / analysis*
Animals
Biochemical Phenomena*
Bombyx
Ions / chemistry*
Mechanical Phenomena*
Silk / chemistry*
Silk / ultrastructure
Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared
X-Ray Diffraction

Substances

Ions
Silk