| Drug release system is critical in improving the efficiency of drug. However, it remains several shortcomings for the present drug release system, including poor biocompatibility and complex synthesis process. Different drug carriers are being developed to overcome these problems. Unlike synthetic polymers, calcium carbonate with better biocompatibility, biodegradability and p H sensitivity is a promising drug carrier for different drugs on cancer treatment. Therefore, the studies of calcium carbonate as drug carriers have attracted tremendous attention.As an analogue of the main protein in nacre, silk fibroin has significant influence on calcium carbonate biomineralization. It is possible to achieve better calcium carbonate carrier with silk fibroin as template. In our study, silk fibroin nanoparticles with size of 30 nm were self-assembled at 60 oC. The nanoparticles were used to regulate calcium carbonate biomineralization. Then monodisperse vaterite microspheres were prepared under designed conditions. Different drugs including DOX and curcumin were successfully loaded on the microspheres and showed sustained release behaviors. Furthermore, thermal treatment was applied to change the content of silk in the microspheres for regulating the drug release ability of the microspheres. The DOX showed different release behaviors in these microspheres. Therefore, it is possible to actively design the drug release capacity based on these thermal treated microsphere system.Finally, silk nanofibers with high beta-sheet content were also used to regulate the calcium carbonate biomineralization. Calcium carbonate particles with different morphologies were obtained under different conditions, providing more options for drug carriers.Therefore, we developed some simple methods to design calcium carbonate carriers with silk fibroin as template. The prepared particles showed improved drug loading and release capacity, suggesting their promising future in drug release system. |
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