Silk Proteins as Functional Biomaterials for Regenerative Medicine

Biomaterials that provide versatility in terms of control of structure, chemistry, morphology, mechanics, degradation lifetime, and material form factor, while biocompatibile, are useful in meeting regenerative medicine goals. Silk, as one of the oldest biomaterials utilized as sutures for centuries, is undergoing a rebirth into new biomaterial formats and applications for regenerative engineering for the medical field. Key to this emergence has been fundamental insight into mechanisms of self-assembly and control or tunability of material features achievable with silk. As a unique, high molecular weight, amphiphilic protein, new modes to modify the native protein using processing methods, chemistries and bioengineering approaches are emerging from the laboratory. Some of these recent strategies will be discussed related to fundamental aspects of controlling biomaterial structure and function, leading to new silk-based biomaterials for regenerative medicine.