Advanced Silk Fibroin Biomaterials for Cartilage Regeneration

Silk fibroin is regarded as a natural fibrous protein with tunable mechanical properties, acceptable biocompatibility and the favorable capability of enhancing attachment, proliferation and differentiation of chondrocytes. These properties make it suitable for the fabrication of scaffold and a broad range of silk fibroin-based biomaterials for cartilage regenerative therapy which can heal functional cartilage without scar tissue. It can be used as a single material for making different kinds of scaffold or as a composite with other types of biomaterials. Together with some growth factors, silk fibroin scaffolds can form a support for the growth and differentiation of seeding cells, such as chondrogenic lineage cells and mesenchymal stem cells. The recent advancements of silk fibroin in cartilage regeneration is summarized in this review. Furthermore, the manufacture methods of silk fibroin materials and their applications in the regeneration of cartilage were also discussed.