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A. Teuschl, M. Hohlrieder, J. Stampfl, K. Cicha, M. Griensven, H. Redl:
"Silk scaffolds for the replacement of the anterior cruciate ligament";
Talk: 4. Wiener Biomaterialsymposium, Wien; 11-15-2010 - 11-17-2010; in: "Tagungsband", J. Stampfl (ed.); (2010), 15.

Aim/Introduction:

The aim of the project is to generate a tissue engineered silk scaffold with mechanical properties similar to human anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) that could possibly guarantee long-term clinical success in anterior ACL regeneration/replacement.

Materials and Methods:

The silk scaffold was made of white raw Bombyx mori silkworm fibers. We chose a braided structure which is subdivided into a sheath and a core component.

The pre-structured scaffolds were processed by extraction of sericin using an aqueous solution of Na2CO3 and SDS. In order to evaluate the silk scaffolds in terms of alterations in the mechanical properties due to this degumming process, pull-to-failure tests with an Instron testing machine were performed.

Results

The raw scaffold reaches a maximum load of 3784 ± 197N. After degumming, the utilized silk scaffolds have strength and stiffness values compareable to natural ligaments. Whereas a native ACL reaches a maximum load of 2160 ± 157N, our wet and degummed structures show maximum loads of 2023 ± 109N. Furthermore, corresponding stiffness values could be found for our new silk scaffold (336 ± 40N/mm vs. 242 ± 28N/mm).

Conclusion

With a braided design and optimized degumming a silk scaffold could be generated matching mechanical properties of the human ACL.

Project Head Jürgen Stampfl:
Tissue engineering für den regenerativen Kreuzbandersatz