Silk Fibroin–Substrate Interactions at Heterogeneous Nanocomposite Interfaces

Nanocomposite gold-silk nanofibers.

Cell-biomaterial interactions can be controlled by modifying the surface chemistry or nanotopography of the material, to induce cell proliferation and differentiation if desired. Here we combine both approaches in forming silk nanofibers (SNFs) containing gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and subsequently chemically modifying the fibers. Silk fibroin mixed with gold seed nanoparticles was electrospun ...

Engineered Silk Interfaces

Introduction Past experiments have already proven that silk, a natural protein produced by silkworms and spiders, exhibit intriguing physical properties such as exceptionally high moduli and toughness. Silk fibroins (SF) can be further reconstituted into ultrathin (<100 nm) films while retaining most of these properties for a wide variety of bioapplications. These ultrathin films can be further...

Selectivity of competitive multivalent interactions at interfaces.

The development of synthetic, low-molecular-weight ligand receptor systems for the selective control of biomolecular interactions remains a major challenge. Binding of oligohistidine peptides to chelators containing Ni2+-loaded nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA) moieties is one of the most widely used and best-characterised recognition systems. Recognition units containing multiple NTA moieties (multi...

Adsorbate Interactions at Organic / Metal Interfaces

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Nanocomposite film of recycled silk powder and polypropylene