New drug delivery systems based on polymeric silk fibroin

Nowadays, design and synthesis of efficient drug delivery systems are of vital importance in order to optimize the efficacy of therapeutics and reducing side effects. So far, many drug delivery systems have been designed, among them, natural polymer-based systems have attracted the most attention. Silk fibroin (SF) as a natural polymer have several unique properties including excellent biocompatibility, biodegradability, good mechanical behavior, ease of processability with ability to fabricate various structures e.g., nanoparticles, microparticles, fibers, hydrogels, films, that makes it a suitable material for biomedical applications especially drug delivery vehicles. In this review, we discuss the drug delivery applications of SF, in detail.