Release and cellular acceptance of multiple drugs loaded silk fibroin particles.

In this article, silk fibroin particles with average diameter of 980 nm were fabricated via self assembly. Exceptional loading efficiency and release patterns of hydrophobic and protein drugs were observed. Furthermore, smoother release patterns were observed with increase loading of the hydrophobic and protein model drugs, only about 23% FITC-BSA and 34% RhB were released from the silk particles at their highest corresponding loading in 50 days. Most importantly, osteoblasts' viability was augmented during co-culture with silk fibroin particles, as shown by Alamar Blue assay. Attachment of the particles and delivery of model drugs to cells were confirmed by fluorescence images and flow cytometry. Hence, the silk fibroin particles could be potential biomaterial for application in controlled release and pharmaceutics.