SilkFold™

SilkFold™ is a ready-to-use, 3D porous scaffold engineered to recreate the architecture and mechanical cues of the bone-marrow niche. Its structure and composition support long-term culture of hematopoietic and bone marrow cells, enabling faithful modeling of hematopoiesis and bone marrow physiology.

The scaffold is available in customizable sizes and formats based on cell culture strategy and numbers.

SilkFold™ Mini is a rectangular scaffold that can be used with the scaffold holder included in the SilkFold™ Kit. SilkFold™ Maxi is a round scaffold compatible with an Erlenmeyer flask or similar vessels.

Scaffolds and holders are single use.

SilkFold™ has been validated with primary cell types and complex co-culture systems. The platform supports live and confocal imaging, formalin fixation and paraffin embedding for histology/IHC, and efficient cell recovery for flow cytometry, functional assays, biochemical analyses, and molecular workflows.

The SilkFold™ Mini scaffold is perfusable at variable flow rates using syringe or peristaltic pumps, enabling precise flow control and dynamic environmental modulation.

1. Hematopoiesis modeling & lineage differentiation SilkFold™ mimics marrow-like topology and mechanics, supporting hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell expansion, maintenance, and lineage-specific differentiation.

2. Perfusion-Based Cell Recovery & Analysis SilkFold™ allows blood cells generated within the scaffold to be collected during perfusion and subsequently analyzed using flow cytometry, functional assays, or molecular workflows.

3. Disease Modeling SilkFold™ recapitulates key marrow-niche cues, enabling mechanistic studies of hematological disorders and robust in vitro reproduction of disease-associated phenotypes.

Programmable 3D silk bone marrow niche for platelet generation ex vivo and modeling of megakaryopoiesis pathologies

Blood. 2015 Apr 2;125(14):2254–2264.
doi: 10.1182/blood-2014-08-595561

Revealing eltrombopag's promotion of human megakaryopoiesis through AKT/ERK-dependent pathway activation

Haematologica. 2016 Dec;101(12):1479–1488.
doi: 10.3324/haematol.2016.146746

A new path to platelet production through matrix sensing

Haematologica. 2017 Jul;102(7):1150–1160.
doi: 10.3324/haematol.2016.161562

Modular flow chamber for engineering bone marrow architecture and function

Biomaterials. 2017 Nov;146:60–71.
doi: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2017.08.006

Multi-channel silk sponge mimicking bone marrow vascular niche for platelet production

Biomaterials. 2018 Sep;178:122–133.
doi: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2018.06.018

Miniaturized 3D bone marrow tissue model to assess response to Thrombopoietin-receptor agonists in patients

Elife. 2021 Jun 1;10:e58775.
doi: 10.7554/eLife.58775

In vitro studies of human erythropoiesis using a 3D silk-based bone marrow model that generates erythroblastic islands

Blood Adv. 2025 May 13;9(9):2192–2206.
doi: 10.1182/bloodadvances.2024014905

Defective neutrophil clearance in JAK2V617F myeloproliferative neoplasms drives myelofibrosis via immune checkpoint CD24

Blood. 2025 Aug 7;146(6):717–731.
doi: 10.1182/blood.2024027455