Preparation and Statistical Characterization of Tunable Porous Sponge Scaffolds using UV Cross-linking of Methacrylate-Modified Silk Fibroin

Silk fibroin sponges have been widely studied and reported in literature for tissue engineering applications. Several fabrication methods have been proposed during the years to cover most of the demands in terms of properties, which should be adapted to the considered tissue. Most of these procedures are based on the secondary structure transition of the protein to the stable β crystalline form. This transition, known as physical cross-linking, makes the sponge resistant to dissolution in water, and, in general, increases the sponge stiffness. In our work, we propose an alternative method to ensure the stability of the sponge based on chemical cross-linking of a methacrylated version of silk fibroin (Sil-MA) obtained via chemical modification. The Sil-MA water solution with the addition of a photoinitiator (LAP) allows the opening, under UV radiation, of a double carbon–carbon bond and radical polymerization. The incorporation of air bubbles (that serves as a template for the pores) was accomplished by a mixer; then, the foam was stabilized under UV light and the excess water was removed by freeze-drying. Because of the cytotoxicity of the photoinitiator (found when used at a high concentration), an additional washing step in water has been introduced to eliminate the residues and improve the cells’ viability. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis confirmed the functionalization of the protein. To evaluate the effect of the composition on the sponge properties, a 23 full factorial design of the experiment has been adopted. FTIR analysis revealed that the sponge composition did not affect the protein’s secondary structure. The analysis of images obtained by SEM allowed some statistical measures of the porosity curves to be studied and modeled. The same modeling procedure was applied to the dissolution test in a simulated body fluid, to the water absorption, and to the cell viability (tested by the MTT and LDH assays). An empirical model for each property was built, showing how by changing the composition it is possible to tune the sponge properties.