Abstract
Antheraea pernyi (A. pernyi) silk fibroin, which is spun from a wild silkworm, has increasingly attracted interest in the field of tissue engineering. The aim of this study was to investigate the nucleation of hydroxyapatite (HAp) on A. pernyi fibroin film. Von Kossa staining proved that A. pernyi fibroin had Ca binding activity. The A. pernyi fibroin film was mineralized with HAp crystals by alternative soaking in calcium and phosphate solutions. Spherical crystals were nucleated on the A. pernyi fibroin film according to scanning electron microscopeimaging results. The FT-IR and X-ray diffraction spectra confirmed that these spherical crystals were HAp. The results of in vitro cell culture using MG-63 cells demonstrated that the mineralized A. pernyi fibroin film showed excellent cytocompatibility and sound improvement of the MG-63 cellviability.