A month back, I purchased a 5% silk fibroin solution (20 ml) from Sigma and stored it at -20 degrees celsius. When I thawed it today for hydrogel preparation, I only got 5 mL of clear solution, and the rest had gellified into a large clump. Can somebody suggest me how to dissolute this clump? Is this clump irrevocable, or is there a method to dissolve it? Is it going to have an impact on the SF structure after dissolution?
#Silk Fibroin Clumps
Hello Swati,
Please refer to this preparation note about Silk Fibroin:
You must Thaw slowly at 2-10 °C. Gently swirl contents to mix. Do not vortex or pipet vigorously. If the entire contents of the 20 ml bottle are not used upon thawing, aliquot into smaller volumes and freeze at -70°C. Minimize freezing and thawing of product. Do not allow product to be thawed for more than a week since protein aggregation will likely occur.
Based on the above cognition I think the protein aggregation has occurred. You can find details about it in this article.
Article Protein Aggregation - Mechanisms, Detection, and Control
Thanks for your answer @Nouman. The points you mentioned are the precautionary measures to avoid silk fibroin aggregation. However, I am looking for the methods/ways to dissolute those aggregates.
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