Bioengineered Silkworm for Producing Cocoons with High Fibroin Content for Regenerated Fibroin Biomaterial-Based Applications.

ABSTRACT: Silk fibroin exhibits high biocompatibility and biodegradability, making it a versatile biomaterial for medical applications. However, contaminated silkworm-derived substances in remnant sericin from the filature and degumming process can result in undesired immune reactions and silk allergy, limiting the widespread use of fibroin. Here, we established transgenic silkworms with modified middle silk glands, in which sericin expression was repressed by the ectopic expression of cabbage butterfly-derived cytotoxin pierisin-1A, to produce cocoons composed solely of fibroin. Intact, nondegraded fibroin can be prepared from the transgenic cocoons without the need for sericin removal by the filature and degumming steps that cause fibroin degradation. A wide-angle X-ray diffraction analysis reveal

SUBMITTER: Yamano M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9267247 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature