Nanofibrillar Basement Membrane Mimic Made of Recombinant Functionalized Spider Silk in Custom-Made Tissue Culture Inserts

Our research focuses on using recombinantly produced functionalized spider silk proteins to create extracellular matrix models to create more in vivo-like conditions for the cells. We're hoping that by creating a more realistic condition for the cells we're growing, they will grow into tissue-like construct just like they would inside the body, resulting in more realistic models. So the main advantage with using our FN-silk membranes instead of the commercially available plastic PET membranes is that the user gets a membrane that actually resembles the native basement membrane in terms of structure, thickness, biological composition, and elasticity.

By using a membrane that comes closer to mimicking the native basement membrane, we're able to establish more realistic in-vitro tissue models. This can speed up drug discovery and further reduce the need for animal testing. We will continue to investigate how the FN-silk membrane can further improve static in-vitro tissue models, and we will also incorporate the membrane into microfluidic chips in order to expose the cells to flow.

This way we can further involve in-vitro models towards more in vivo-like conditions.