Silk is considered to be a potential biomaterial for a wide number of biomedical applications. Silk fibroin (SF) can be retrieved in sufficient quantities from the cocoons produced by silkworms. While it is easy to formulate into scaffolds with favorable mechanical properties, the natural SF does not contain bioactive functions. Spider silk proteins, on the contrary, can be produced in fusion with bioactive protein domains, but the recombinant procedures are expensive, and large-scale production is challenging. We combine the two types of silk to fabricate affordable, functional tissue-engineered constructs for wound-healing applications. Nanofibrous mats and microporous scaffolds made of natural silkworm SF are used as a bulk material that are top-coated with the recombinant spider silk protein (4RepCT) in fusion with a cell-binding motif, antimicrobial peptides, and a growth factor. For this, the inherent silk properties are utilized to form interactions between the two silk types by self-assembly. The intended function, that is, improved cell adhesion, antimicrobial activity, and growth factor stimulation, could be demonstrated for the obtained functionalized silk mats. As a skin prototype, SF scaffolds coated with functionalized silk are cocultured with multiple cell types to demonstrate formation of a bilayered tissue construct with a keratinized epidermal layer under in vitro conditions. The encouraging results support this strategy of fabrication of an affordable bioactive SF-spider silk-based biomaterial for wound dressings and skin substitutes.
Keywords: artificial skin; functional biomaterials; recombinant spider silk; silk fibroin; wound dressing.