Chain entanglement enhanced strong and tough wool keratin/albumin fibers for bioabsorbable and immunocompatible surgical sutures

Haonan He, Xianchi Zhou, Yuxian Lai, Rouye Wang, Hongye Hao, Xintian Shen, Peng Zhang () and Jian Ji ()
Additional contact information
Haonan He: Zhejiang University
Xianchi Zhou: Zhejiang University
Yuxian Lai: Zhejiang University
Rouye Wang: Zhejiang University
Hongye Hao: Zhejiang University
Xintian Shen: Zhejiang University
Peng Zhang: Zhejiang University
Jian Ji: Zhejiang University

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: Abstract High-performance fibers derived from non-silk proteins have garnered significant interest in biomedical applications because of their high accessibility and biocompatibility. Nonetheless, considerable challenges persist in addressing their structural defects to fabricate fibers with an optimal balance of strength and toughness. Herein, an entanglement-reinforced strategy is proposed to reconstruct high-performance non-silk protein fibers. Regenerated keratin and bovine serum albumin (BSA) are unfolded by denaturant and complementarily composited, leveraging their intrinsic cysteine re-oxidation to generate a robust mechanical cross-linking network without the requirement of an external crosslinker. The resulting drawn keratin/BSA composite fiber (DKBF) exhibits balanced mechanical performances with a breaking strength of approximately 250 MPa and a toughness of around 70 MJ m-3, outperforming that of reported regenerated keratin fibers and comparable to many natural or artificial silk fibers. Additionally, DKBFs demonstrate redox-responsive mechanical behavior and hydration-induced reversible shape memory. The DKBFs show good suturing capability for wound repair in female animal models due to their excellent bioabsorbability and immunocompatibility. This work offers valuable insights into addressing the current challenges in manufacturing mechanically robust and tough non-silk protein fibers, bringing hope for the development of more sustainable and versatile materials.

Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-58171-0 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-58171-0

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-58171-0

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().