What is silk?
Silk is a protein fiber that comes from silkworms or spiders. Silkworms secrete the silk fiber to form cocoons for their pupation. Spider silk is extremely expensive to produce.
Silk from mulberry silkworms, or Bombyx Mori, is the most common type of silk found in silk fabric due to cheaper production costs and the quality of the fiber.
Silk has a multitude of benefits for skin and hair such as anti-inflammatory properties and more.
Silk Fibroin
Silkworm silks contain two proteins: fibroin, which forms the fiber of the silk, and sericin, which acts as a coating to hold the fiber together. During silk fabric production, the silk cocoons are boiled in a composite that separates the sericin from the fibroin, leaving just the fibroin in silk fabric.
Medical Applications
Due to silk fibroin's unique biocompatibility, bioactive properties, and ability to self-assemble, fibroin is being heavily studied for a variety of medical applications from healing burn wounds to targeted drug delivery. Historically, silk fibroin has been used for medical sutures.
Studies on Silk's Properties
Silk fibroin peptide has been found to have anti-inflammatory properties in multiple studies.
One study tested fibroin on a human keratinocyte cell line (keratinocytes make keratin, are the most common type of skin cell and are integral in hair formation) and found that fibroin stimulates cell migration, therefore improving wound healing times (read more here).
Another study found that fibroin "enhanced the proliferation of cultured human skin fibroblasts." A fibroblast is a type of cell that contributes to the formation of connective tissue by secreting collagen proteins.
Silk fibroin was found to stimulate collagen and elastic fiber production in another study. Elastic fibers endow skin with elasticity and resilience.