Dental materials : official publication of the Academy of Dental MaterialsSep 27, 2025

Silk protein membrane with gas-driven mineral layers to improve bone healing

Regenerative Health Weekly Brief ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗

Updated Jan 7, 2026

Abstract

Silk fibroin-based membranes with dual barrier and osteoinductive functions were successfully created using a gas diffusion-mediated mineralization strategy.

Traditional collagen-based guided bone regeneration membranes have limited mechanical strength and osteoinductive capacity.
The new silk fibroin membranes feature a dense, mineral-free side for mechanical support and a mineralized side that releases bioactive metal ions.
In vitro studies showed that the silk fibroin-calcium/strontium membrane enhanced osteogenic differentiation by increasing BMP2/SMAD1 expression.
In a rat mandibular defect model, the silk fibroin-calcium/strontium membrane significantly promoted new bone regeneration and collagen formation.
The approach integrates barrier properties with localized bioactivity, potentially improving outcomes in guided bone regeneration.

Simplified

Traditional guided bone regeneration (GBR) membranes face challenges in balancing mechanical strength, bioactivity, and osteoconductivity for effective periodontal bone regeneration. While collagen-based GBR membranes dominate clinical use, the weak mechanical properties and lack of osteoinductive capacity limit regeneration efficacy. Here, we presented a gas diffusion-mediated single-sided mineralization strategy to fabricate silk fibroin (SF)-based GBR membranes with dual barrier/osteoinductive functions. SF was dissolved in formic acid with Caand, optionally, other bioactive metal ions (BMIs, such as Sr, Cu, or Mg), and a colloid was formed after the evaporation of formic acid. Followed by gradient mineralization under CO/NHatmosphere and β-sheet induction via ethanol treatment, SF-Ca/X (X refers to other BMIs) membranes were prepared. Mineralized SF membranes featured a dense, mineral-free side for mechanical support and barrier, and an osteoinductive side by releasing BMIs. Interestingly, the calcium phosphate layer formed on the mineralized side, and the phase of CaCOchanged from calcite to vaterite, which helps phosphate mineralization. In vitro results demonstrated that the SF-Ca/Sr membrane enhanced osteogenic differentiation by upregulating BMP2/SMAD1 expression. In a rat mandibular defect model, the SF-Ca/Sr membrane significantly promotes new bone regeneration and collagen formation. Overall, this gas diffusion-mediated single-sided gradient mineralization approach integrates barrier properties with localized bioactivity, allowing for the required barrier/osteoinduction functions in the GBR process in one membrane. 2 + 2+ 2+ 2+ 2 3 3

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Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

PubMed

Silk protein membrane with gas-driven mineral layers to improve bone healing

Abstract

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