Silk fibroin carriers for non-viral gene delivery applications

초록

Interest in the use of reprocessed silks such as fibroin in biotechnological materials and in biomedical applications derives from the unique mechanical properties of these fibers and their biocompatibility and biodegradability.1-4 Panilaitis et al. reported that silk fibroin, after proper extraction of the contaminating sericin proteins, is non-immunogenic, biocompatible and capable of supporting cell attachment, spreading, growth and differentiation as well as eliciting a negligible response during standard in vitro macrophage assays.5 Systematic in vivo studies indicate silk induces a foreign body response comparable to most commonly used degradable synthetic and natural polymers such as poly(L-lactic acid) and collagen.6 On the other hand, the major hurdle of gene therapies is the difficulty of delivering genetic material to the nucleus of the target cell in an effective, non-toxic and non-immunogenic manner. In this study, we developed silk fibroin as a novel gene delivery carrier because silk fibroin from natural resources do not contain toxic monomer residues and solvents and can biodegrade to nontoxic amino acids and be eliminated at controlled rates from the body. The combining and release of gene with silk fibroin were investigated.