Searching for Gold on Silken Nanofibers, Image #5
Searching for Gold on Silken Nanofibers, Image #5
This image, submitted by Tzahi Cohen-Karni, shows fluorescence of cells on nanofibers made from silk worm silk.
Koch Institute at MIT, MIT Department of Chemical Engineering
Tzahi Cohen-Karni
Langer & Anderson Laboratories, Koch Institute
Kohane Laboratory, Boston Children's Hospital
Confocal Microscopy
"We developed a way to create a nanostructured nanofibers made out of silk, for cellular interactions. The fibers have exquisite mechanical properties, unique optical properties and can be easily chemically modified. The fibers also have topography at the scale of one billionth of the meter through incorporation of gold nanoparticles at their surface. We used these minute particles to monitor the interaction of the cells with the fibers and explored whether these features have an effect on cellular behavior, in this case whether the cells like to “stick” to the surface or not."