Abstract

The biocomposite materials development based on polymeric fibrillar structures functionalized with metal nanostructures are visualized as alternative strategies to facilitate tissue connection bridges in the engineering of cardiovascular tissues. Based on it, the purpose of the present investigation sought to functionalize silk fibroin electrospun membranes extracted from Colombian sericultural wastes with gold or silver nanoparticles synthesized by green chemical reduction method, estimating their hiocompatible characteristics through interaction with an in vitro model of human fetal ventricular cardiomyocytes RL 14. The biocomposite material was characterized by UV-Visible spectroscopy, scanning electron and field emission microscopy. Besides, bright field microscopy was used to evaluate the adhesion and proliferation of cardiomyocytes RL-14. The results showed that the use of silk fibroin extracted from sericultural wastes favored the formation of AuNPs-SFw and AgNPs-SFw acting it as a reducing agent and surfactant forming a micellar structure around individual nanoparticles. Moreover, it was possible to obtain SFa/PEO membranes, which, being functionalized with nanoparticles, allowed the development of composite materials by layers. Finally, the use of three-dimensional protein structures functionalized with gold nanoparticles promoted cell attachment sites and favored the cytocompatible response.