In situ biomineralization by silkworm feeding with ion precursors for the improved mechanical properties of silk fiber

Possessing excellent biocompatibility, biodegradability and good reactive activity, silk fiber has been attracting great attention in biomedicine including surgical suture, drug delivery and tissue engineering. So far, several protocols have been developed to further improve the mechanical properties of the silk fiber. In current study, a novel in suit biomineralization strategy was developed to produce nano-hydroxyapatite (HA) strengthened silk fiber based on the natural alkaline condition in the body of silkworm by feeding the silkworm with ion precursors of Ca2+ and PO43- ions. Our observation proved that nanocomposite silk fiber contained more alpha-helix and random coil structures and fewer beta-sheets. Tensile test showed that such obtained silk fiber has superior mechanical properties compared to normal silk fiber. To the best of our knowledge, no attempts have been made to fabricate the nanocomposite SF by in situ biomineralization and such protocol established in the current study may shed light on the investigation of nanoparticles reinforced silk fiber organisms of Bombyx mori. (c) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.