Fabrication of Antheraea mylitta sericin hydrogel film via non toxic crosslinking citric acid with antioxidant properties

ABSTRACT

Sericin, a water-soluble protein biopolymer, is usually discarded as a byproduct of the silk processing industries. However, in recent years the applications of sericin biomacromolecule for biomaterial fabrication have increased. The current strategy of sericin hydrogel preparation involves crosslinking with glutaraldehyde or genipin which are known to be cytotoxic and hinder/restrict the biological applications of the end product. Therefore, citric acid, a nontoxic crosslinking agent, was explored for the fabrication of Antheraea mylitta sericin hydrogel films (AmSHF) with and without Polyethylene glycol (PEG). The biophysical characterization of fabricated hydrogel films confirmed the native properties of the natural silk in the regenerated sericin, as well as the AmSHF and appearance of the peak at 1709 cm^−1, which indicated crosslinking of the hydrogel films due to the formation of ester bonds resulting in nanoscale roughness of 4.29 nm and amorphous nature with a higher swelling ratio of 18.76 ± 0.058 g/g. The antioxidant nature of sericin was retained even after AmSHF formation as revealed by antioxidant assays. The AmSHF were also found to be cytocompatible and significantly increased the proliferation of NIH3T3 fibroblast cells. These results open up several possibilities for using these hydrogels as a biomaterial for wound healing and skin tissue regeneration.

KEYWORDS:

• Biopolymer
• Antheraea mylitta
• sericin
• silk hydrogel film
• citric acid

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India for the Fund for Improvement of S&T Infrastructure in Higher Educational Institutions (FIST) grant allotted to the department of Biotechnology and Microbiology and for the facilities. The author Ms. Sheela Khanapure acknowledges the Karnatak University, Dharwad for financial assistance in the form of a University Research Studentship (URS). The authors would also like to thank KSTePS VGST-CISEE project number KSTePS/Grant/CISEE/GRD.No.932/2020-21/76. The authors are thankful to University Scientific Instrumentation Center (USIC) and Sophisticated Analytical Instruments Facility (SAIF), Karnatak University, Dharwad for providing experimental facilities.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data Availability Statement

The data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.