Molecular modeling of silk

In the search of an efficient scaffold for vascular tissue engineering, we proposed in our lab a collagen gel type I with interesting biological performances. However, the collagen gel exhibited low mechanical properties and manipulation was challenging even after one week of culture. We proposed to add a reinforcement structure with silk fibers. So, we wanted to learn more about silk. This work presents an introduction to the method of molecular mechanics to investigate silk fibroin primary and secondary structure. Even if results have been obtained and will be presented, my feeling is that the important part of this work concerns future questions that could arise when working with silk to process scaffolds.

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