Preparation of biomimetic nanofibers by electrospinning of blends of silk fibroin and chitosan for bone tissue engineering

In this study, we have successfully fabricated electrospun bead-free silk fibroin (SF)/chitosan (CS) blend nanofibers (NFs) covering the whole range of CS content (0, 25, 50, 75, and 100%). NFs are treated with ethanol/ammonia aqueous solution to remove residual TFA and to change SF protein conformation. After the chemical treatment, SF/CS NFs could maintain the original structure for up to 54 days in culture medium. Human fetal osteoblast progenitor (hFOB) cells were capable of proliferating and osteogenic differentiating on SF/CS NFs from MTS and alkaline phosphatase assays. SF enhanced hFOB proliferation while CS enhanced hFOB differentiation. The prepared SF/CS blend NFs will be suitable for tissue engineering applications.