Abstract

Silk is definitely a natural biocompatible material with humans and has its role in medical treatments from prehistoric times. Silk fibroin, the fibrous structural-protein component in silk, has emerged as a accomplished treatment for these impaired processes by promoting functional tissue regeneration. Silk is a functional protein biomaterial obtained from a variety of insects like flies, silkworms, scorpions, spiders, and mites. Silk synthesized by silkworms is widely studied for its applications in tissue engineering and wound healing. The silk worm protein made up of two types of proteins which are fibroin and sericin. Silk fibroin has been known to stimulate wound healing by increasing cell proliferation and growth and migrating various types of cells which are involved in different stages of wound healing process. Impaired wound healing can cause local hypoxia or tissue necrosis and ultimately result in amputation or even death. Silk fibroin (SF) is a natural polymeric biomaterial that is broadly adopted for the preparation of drug delivery systems. It holds great potential due to its abundance, mechanical robustness, biocompatibility, and tunable degradation. Different forms of silk fibroin include nanoparticles,tissue scaffolds, wound dressings, and novel drug-delivery systems.