Effects of protein conformational transition accompanied with crosslinking density cues in silk fibroin hydrogels on the proliferation and chondrogenesis of encapsulated stem cells.

ABSTRACT: Silk fibroin (SF) hydrogels possess excellent biocompatibility and biomimetic properties of the extracellular matrix. Among them, the mild chemical crosslinked SF hydrogels show great application potential in the fields of 3D cell culture and tissue repairing and thus have attracted widespread attention. However, the mobility of hydrophobic chain segments of SF molecules in these chemical crosslinked hydrogels can easily cause the molecules to undergo a self-assembly process from random coil to β-sheet conformation due to its lower energy state, thus inducing an inevitable conformational transition process. This process further leads to dynamic changes of important material features, such as the hydrogel pore size and mechanical properties, which can probably bring some non-negligib

SUBMITTER: Cai G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12033033 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature