Table 3.

Advantages of peptide/protein-based drug delivery using silk-based systems.

Aspects	Silk
Encapsulation	prepared and processed under ambient aqueous conditions to avoid loss of bioactivity different material formats: ability to regulate structure and morphology of silk stabilization due to binding interactions with silk protein subunits compatible with most sterilization methods
Delivery	biocompatible less inflammatory than other common biodegradable polymers mechanically durable
Release	degradation rate can be controlled by the crystalline state during processing to regulate release profile of bioactive molecules control - degradation is by surface digestion by proteases vs bulk digestion for polyester via chemical hydrolysis