Facilely printed silk fibroin hydrogel microparticles as injectable long-lasting fillers

Abstract

There is a high demand from aging people for facial fillers with desirable biocompatibility and lasting filling effects to overcome facial depression. Novel injectable regenerated silk fibroin (RSF) microparticles were facilely printed from a glycidyl methacrylate-modified silk fibroin hydrogel to address this issue. The β-sheet content and mechanical properties of the RSF hydrogel can be simply modulated by the number of freeze–thawing cycles, and the swelling rate of the RSF hydrogel in saline was negligible. The printed RSF microparticles were uniform, and their diameter was about 300–500 μm, which could be adjusted by the pore sizes of the printed screens. After the injection with a 26-gauge needle, the size distribution of RSF microparticles had no noticeable variation, suggesting that the microparticles could bear the shear strain without breaking during the injection. The in vitro experiments demonstrated that RSF not only had desirable biocompatibility but also facilitated fibroblast migration. The subcutaneous injection experiments demonstrated that the RSF microparticles formed a lasting spot in the injected site. The tissue sections revealed that the RSF microparticles were still distinct on week 8, and blood vessels formed around the microparticles. These promising data demonstrate that the printed RSF microparticles have great potential for facial rejuvenation.