Mulberry SILK fibroin is being used as biomaterial for tissue engineering applications. In the present work, comparisons are made between mulberry and eri SILK fibroin scaffolds prepared by electrospinning method. The scaffolds are treated with ethanol to improve their dimensional stability, and the physical and chemical properties of the scaffolds are assessed using thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffractometry. The FTIR spectra confirm the structural change of SILK fibroin from α-helical to b-sheet structure when mulberry and eri SILK scaffolds are treated with ethanol. The thermal stability of the eri SILK scaffold is found to be better than that of mulberry SILK. Ethanol-treated eri SILK displays higher tensile stress than the ethanol-treated mulberry SILK. The hemolysis percentages of eri SILK and mulberry SILK scaffolds are found to be 1 and 3 %, respectively. While the platelet adhesion on eri SILK fibroin scaffold is found to be lower than that of mulberry SILK fibroin scaffold, the cell attachment, binding and spreading of L6 fibroblast cells on the eri SILK scaffold are better than those on the mulberry SILK fibroin, and the cell viability is found to be better on eri SILK fibroin scaffold.

In ancient period, Iran was applied to the country which had dominated on extensive ristrict of west and east teritories. Since of benifiting from this geographical location, not only established a relation between west and east empires, but also most cultures and sciences of the time were influnced deeply. Excessive intrest of Iranian to commercial affairs caused to procure different facilities and installation as well as security for road ways. The course of this roads passed from Euphrates and Tigris rivers to Harah, Nasibane then reached to Sardes and Efce. The lenght of this long road reached to 2683 kilometers. About 111 stations or carvanserais were equipped with spare horses for messengers. This course was travelled in 90 days by commercial carevans. The first jounzey of political boards from China court was headed by Chezan Naissan to the court of Iran accomplished in 228 years B.C. During the time of the Ashkanian second merdad chines SILK from the road entitled SILKroad, from north of Iran was despatched to the Roman empire.

Background: In the present study, a tissue engineered SF scaffold containing simvastatin-loaded SFNPs were used to stimulate the regeneration of the defected bone. Methods: At first, the porous SF scaffold was prepared using freeze-drying. Then simvastatin-loaded SFNPs were made by dissolvation method and embedded in the SF scaffold. Afterwards, the scaffold and the NPs were characterized in terms of physicochemical properties and the ability to release the simvastatin small molecule. Results: The results exhibited that the SF scaffold had a porous structure suitable for releasing the small molecule and inducing the proliferation and attachment of osteoblast cells. SFNPs containing simvastatin had spherical morphology and were 174 ± 4 in size with-24. 5 zeta potential. Simvastatin was also successfully encapsulated within the SFNPs with 68% encapsulation efficiency. Moreover, the small molecule revealed a sustained release profile from the NPs during 35 days. The results obtained from the in vitro cell-based studies indicated that simvastatin-loaded SFNPs embedded in the scaffold had acceptable capacity to promote the proliferation and ALP production of osteoblast cells while inducing osteogenic matrix precipitation. Conclusion: The SF scaffold containing simvastatin-loaded SFNPs could have a good potential to be used as a bone tissue-engineered construct.

SILK fibroin (SF) is a natural material that has received special attention due to its excellent mechanical and electrical properties. Nowadays, it is tried to improve the properties of SF by adding other nanomaterials such as graphene oxide (GO). Here, we extracted SF from SILK cocoon and studied its properties in pure state and in the combination with graphene oxide (SF/GO). The results have shown that the presence of graphene oxide in the structure of fibroin increases the random winding formation of SF. The measurements show that the water content has a great effect on the properties of SF and SF/GO films. The contact angle (less than 70) indicates the hydrophilic property of these films. In addition, in times greater than 50 seconds, the contact angles drop to 27°, and 5°, for SF and SF/GO respectively. Also, the surface resistance of the completely dried SF/GO film increases from 50 kW/sq to 220 kW/sq for 42% wt water content.

Biocompatible and biodegradable three-dimensional scaffolds are commonly porous which serve to provide suitable microenvironments for mechanical supporting and optimal cell growth. SILK fibroin (SF) is a natural and biomedical polymer with appropriate and improvable mechanical properties. Making a composite with a bioceramicas reinforcement is a general strategy to prepare a scaffold for hard tissue engineering applications. In the present study, SF was separately combined with titanium dioxide (TiO2) and fluoridated titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2-F) as bioceramic reinforcements for bone tissue engineering purposes. At the first step, SF was extracted from Bombyx mori cocoons. Then, TiO2 nanoparticles were fluoridated by hydrofluoric acid. Afterward, SF/TiO2 and SF/TiO2-F nanocomposite scaffolds were prepared by freeze-drying method to obtain a porous microstructure. Both SF/TiO2 and SF/TiO2-F scaffolds contained 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20 wt% nanoparticles. To evaluate the efficacy of nanoparticles addition on the mechanical properties of the prepared scaffolds, their compressive properties were assayed. Likewise, the pores morphology and microstructure of the scaffolds were investigated using scanning electron microscopy. In addition, the porosity and density of the scaffolds were measured according to the Archimedes’,principle. Afterward, compressive modulus and microstructure of the prepared scaffolds were evaluated and modeled by Gibson–, Ashby’, s mechanical models. The results revealed that the compressive modulus predicted by the mechanical model exactly corresponds to the experimental one. The modeling approved the honeycomb structure of the prepared scaffolds which possess interconnected pores.