Strong and Tough Tendon‐Mimetic Silk Fibroin for Tissue Regeneration

• DOI: 10.1002/adhm.202500428
• Publication Date: 2025-04-24T11:54:23Z
• Authors: Guofeng Liu; Pengcheng Xia; Bokun Li; Tianhong Qiao; Qilin Wu; Muhammad Hassan S...; Yuan Sun; Hongwei Ouyang; Yong He
• Keywords: Fibroin; Biocompatibility; Microscale chemistry

Abstract Tendons exhibit outstanding mechanical performance due to their hierarchical and anisotropic structures. Despite notable progress in mimicking anisotropy, developing biomaterials that simultaneously high strength, excellent biocompatibility remains a significant challenge. In this study, novel strategy is proposed fabricate multiscale, tendon‐mimetic regenerated silk fibroin (RSF) scaffold with preferentially aligned microstructure superior properties. This integrates ethanol‐annealing induce β‐sheet crystallization (nanoscale), freeze‐casting create microstructures (microscale), densification enhance interfacial bonding (macroscale). The synergistic effect of these multiscale structures effectively resists crack propagation, yielding impressive properties: tensile strength 7.8 MPa, elongation at break 206%, toughness 14.52 MJ m −3 . Notably, the fabricated through purely physical process, free chemical modifications or additives, preserving its suggesting promising clinical potential. biomimetic RSF promotes tendon cell adhesion, directional migration, upregulated expression tendon‐specific proteins. After 8 weeks implantation rabbit full‐thickness Achilles defect model, promoted realignment newly formed collagen fibers, resulting structure closely resembles native architecture. study provides insights into design manufacturing high‐performance biomaterials.