Yanan Zhang

Bio: Yanan Zhang is an academic researcher from Southeast University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Biomaterial & Hyaline cartilage. The author has an hindex of 1, co-authored 1 publications receiving 1 citations.

Silk fibroin-based biomaterials for cartilage/osteochondral repair

Abstract: Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common joint disease with a high disability rate. In addition, OA not only causes great physiological and psychological harm to patients, but also puts great pressure on the social healthcare system. Pathologically, the disintegration of cartilage and the lesions of subchondral bone are related to OA. Currently, tissue engineering, which is expected to overcome the defects of existing treatment methods, had a lot of research in the field of cartilage/osteochondral repair. Silk fibroin (SF), as a natural macromolecular material with good biocompatibility, unique mechanical properties, excellent processability and degradability, holds great potential in the field of tissue engineering. Nowadays, SF had been prepared into various materials to adapt to the demands of cartilage/osteochondral repair. SF-based biomaterials can also be functionally modified to enhance repair performance further. In this review, the preparation methods, types, structures, mechanical properties, and functional modifications of SF-based biomaterials used for cartilage/osteochondral repair are summarized and discussed. We hope that this review will provide a reference for the design and development of SF-based biomaterials in cartilage/osteochondral repair field.

Multifunctional polyphenol-based silk hydrogel alleviates oxidative stress and enhances endogenous regeneration of osteochondral defects

Abstract: In osteochondral defects, oxidative stress caused by elevated levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) can disrupt the normal endogenous repair process. In this study, a multifunctional hydrogel composed of silk fibroin (SF) and tannic acid (TA), the FDA-approved ingredients, was developed to alleviate oxidative stress and enhance osteochondral regeneration. In this proposed hydrogel, SF first interacts with TA to form a hydrogen-bonded supramolecular structure, which is subsequently enzymatically crosslinked to form a stable hydrogel. Furthermore, TA had multiple phenolic hydroxyl groups that formed interactions with the therapeutic molecule E7 peptide for controlled drug delivery. In vitro investigations showed that SF-TA and SF-TA-E7 hydrogels exhibited a multitude of biological effects including scavenging of ROS, maintaining cell viability, and promoting the proliferation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) against oxidative stress. The proteomic analysis indicated that SF-TA and SF-TA-E7 hydrogels suppressed oxidative stress, which in turn improved cell proliferation in multiple proliferation and apoptosis-related pathways. In rabbit osteochondral defect model, SF-TA and SF-TA-E7 hydrogels promoted enhanced regeneration of both cartilage and subchondral bone as compared to hydrogel without TA incorporation. These findings indicated that the multifunctional SF-TA hydrogel provided a microenvironment suitable for the endogenous regeneration of osteochondral defects.