Silk Fibroin/Spidroin Electrospun Scaffolds for Full-Thickness Skin Wound Healing in Rats

Abstract

The main goal of our research was to fabricate electrospun scaffolds from three different silk proteins—silk fibroin from Bombyx mori silkworm cocoons and two recombinant spidroins, rS2/12 and rS2/12-RGDS—and to perform a comparative analysis of the structure, biological properties, and regenerative potential of the scaffolds in a full-thickness rat skin wound model. The surface and internal structures were investigated using scanning electron microscopy and scanning probe nanotomography. The structures of the scaffolds were similar. The average fiber diameter of the scaffolds was 315 ± 26 nm, the volume porosity was 94.5 ± 1.4%, the surface-to-volume ratio of the scaffolds was 25.4 ± 4.2 μm−1 and the fiber surface roughness was 3.8 ± 0.6 nm. The scaffolds were characterized by a non-cytotoxicity effect and a high level of cytocompatibility with cells. The scaffolds also had high regenerative potential—the healing of the skin wound was accelerated by 19 days compared with the control. A histological analysis did not reveal any fragments of the experimental constructions or areas of inflammation. Thus, novel data on the structure and biological properties of the silk fibroin/spidroin electrospun scaffolds were obtained.

Keywords

• silk fibroin
• recombinant spidroin
• electrospinning
• scanning probe nanotomography
• full-thickness skin wound