Characterization of Transgenic Silkworm Yielded Biomaterials with Calcium-Binding Activity.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 27414647.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0159111 and PMC identifier 4944971.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Silk fibers have many inherent properties that are suitable for their use in biomaterials. In this study, the silk fibroin was genetically modified by including a Ca-binding sequence, [(AGSGAG)6ASEYDYDDDSDDDDEWD]2 from shell nacreous matrix protein. It can be produced as fibers by transgenic silkworm. The Ca-binding activity and mineralization of the transgenic silk fibroin were examined in vitro. The results showed that this transgenic silk fibroin had relatively higher Ca-binding activity than unmodified silk fibroin. The increased Ca-binding activity could promote the usage of silk fibroin as a biomaterial in the pharmaceutical industry. This study shows the possibility of using silk fibroin as a mineralization accelerating medical material by generating genetically modified transgenic silkworm.
Medical subject headings
- Biocompatible Materials
- Calcium
- Fibroins
- Silk