Optically transparent silk hydrogels

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12049481-B2
Application number	US-202016872679-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 12, 2020
Priority date	Sep 27, 2013
Publication date	Jul 30, 2024
Grant date	Jul 30, 2024

Abstract

The present application relates to silk fibroin-based hydrogels, methods for making and using the same.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A composition comprising:
a plurality of crystalized silk fibroin spheres, wherein the crystalized silk fibroin spheres have a diameter between about 10 nm and about 150 nm,
the plurality of crystalized silk fibroin spheres arranged together to form a freestanding hydrogel structure having at least 60% optical transmittance in the visible spectrum.

2. The composition of claim 1 , the freestanding hydrogel structure having at least 95% transmittance in the visible spectrum.

3. The composition of claim 1 , the freestanding hydrogel structure having a compressive modulus between about 2 kPa and about 20 kPa when measured with a crosshead speed of about 2.0 mm/hr.

4. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the silk fibroin within the silk fibroin spheres is crosslinked.

5. The composition of claim 4 , wherein the silk fibroin is crosslinked with a crosslinking agent.

6. The composition of claim 5 , wherein the crosslinking agent is an amine-to-amine crosslinker, amine-to-sulfhydryl crosslinker, carboxyl-to-amine crosslinker, photoreactive crosslinker, sulfhydryl-to-carbohydrate crosslinker, sulfhydryl-to-hydroxyl crosslinker, sulfhydryl-to-sulfhydryl crosslinker, or any combination thereof.

7. The composition of claim 5 , wherein the crosslinking agent is EDTA.

8. A composition comprising:
nanosized crystalline particles comprising silk fibroin polypeptides having an average molecular weight falling within the range of about 3.5 kDa to about 120 kDa,
the nanosized crystalline particles having a diameter between about 10 nm and about 150 nm, and
the nanosized crystalline particles arranged together to form a freestanding hydrogel structure having at least 60% optical transmittance in the visible spectrum.

9. The composition of claim 8 , the silk fibroin polypeptides having an average molecular weight falling within the range of about 25 kDa to about 120 kDa.

10. The composition of claim 8 , the silk fibroin polypeptides having an average molecular weight falling within the range of about 75 kDa to about 120 kDa.

11. The composition of claim 8 , wherein the freestanding hydrogel structure has at least one dimension that is at least 10 micrometers.

12. The composition of claim 8 , the freestanding hydrogel structure having a compressive modulus between about 2 kPa and about 20 kPa when measured with a crosshead speed of about 2.0 mm/hr.

13. The composition of claim 8 , the freestanding hydrogel structure comprising a predetermined microstructure fabricated therein.

14. The composition of claim 13 , wherein the predetermined microstructure is a void.

15. A composition comprising:
a plurality of silk fibroin nanoparticles having a diameter between about 10 nm and about 150 nm,
the plurality of silk fibroin nanoparticles arranged together to form a freestanding hydrogel structure.

16. The composition of claim 15 , wherein the plurality of silk fibroin nanoparticles are crosslinked by an amine-to-amine crosslinker, amine-to-sulfhydryl crosslinker, carboxyl-to-amine crosslinker, photoreactive crosslinker, sulfhydryl-to-carbohydrate crosslinker, sulfhydryl-to-hydroxyl crosslinker, sulfhydryl-to-sulfhydryl crosslinker, or any combination thereof.

17. The composition of claim 15 , the plurality of silk fibroin nanoparticles having a diameter between about 50 nm and about 150 nm.

18. The composition of claim 15 , the plurality of silk fibroin nanoparticles having a diameter between about 80 nm and about 120 nm.

19. The composition of claim 15 , the freestanding hydrogel structure having at least 60% transmittance in the visible spectrum.

20. The composition of claim 15 , the plurality of silk fibroin nanoparticles having a porosity between about 0% and about 50%.

Assignees

• Univ Tufts

Inventors

• Omenetto Fiorenzo G
• Kaplan David L
• Marelli Benedetto
• Mitropoulos Alexander Nicholas

Classifications

• C12N2537/10

  Cross-linking · CPC title

• C12N2533/90

  Substrates of biological origin, e.g. extracellular matrix, decellularised tissue · CPC title

• C12N2533/50

  Proteins · CPC title

• C12N5/0068

  General culture methods using substrates (for specific animal cell type C12N5/06) · CPC title

• B23K26/402

  involving non-metallic material, e.g. isolators · CPC title