A study on source dependent batch to batch variations in silk fibroin films for potential applications in corneal tissue engineering

The demand-to-supply gap, rejection rates, and the chances of infection associated with organ/tissue transplantation prompted researchers to find alternative solutions such as tissue engineering. Here, healthy cells are cultured over a biomaterial framework supplemented with growth factors to create bioartificial tissues. As a scaffolding biomaterial, silk fibroin (SF), a biopolymer obtained from Bombyx mori silk cocoons, offers unique properties. However, natural polymers, including SF, were criticized for preconceived source-dependent batch-to-batch variations. Therefore, this study aims to prepare B. mori SF-based films and investigate source-dependent variations, if any. For this purpose, we have sourced silk cocoons from three geographical locations in India and processed them into films with a solvent-casting approach. As a whole, our results indicate that there were slight variations in the morphological features in the raw cocoon stage; however, once processed, there were no significant differences in their topological, physical, chemical, optical, mechanical, or degradable properties with respect to the source. Further, all the films were found to be noncytotoxic and cytocompatible with corneal cells in vitro. Therefore, the study indicates no source-dependent variations in biopolymers and suggested that SF from any source can be processed into biomaterials for potential biomedical applications.