Silk Fibroin Hydrogels: Enhanced Osteogenesis of Bone Marrow-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells by a Functionalized Silk Fibroin Hydrogel for Bone Defect Repair (Adv. Healthcare Mater. 3/2019)

Manuscript number 1801043 by Jin Qi, Xinming Li, and co-workers illustrates that the integration of silk fibroin proteins from domesticated silkworms (B. mori) and a small peptide gelator (NapFFRGD) can work as an effective means for the generation of a novel bioactive hydrogel with high biocompatibility, slow biodegradation rate, and good cell-adhesive properties, compared to other traditional methods. More importantly, because of the presence of RGD ligands within the gel matrix, the resulting hydrogel is capable of forming favorable microenvironments, and inherently inducing the differentiation of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells for bone regeneration.