Surface morphological influence on the in vitro bioactivity and response of mesenchymal stem cells

Abstract

The surface properties of any biological implant are imperative in a cell-material interaction point of view. The current study compared three different surface morphologies of titanium (Ti) samples in terms of adhesion, proliferation and differentiation of cells. A net-porous nanostructure, randomly arranged nano-wires and micron/submicron-crater like morphologies were on the Ti samples by single step etching with H₂O₂, NaOH, and HCl solutions, respectively. Although cell proliferation was decreased by the surface modifications described above, osteogenic differentiation was induced in the cells grown on the etched-Ti samples compared to the polished-Ti samples. In particular, osteocalcin (OC) and osteopontin (OPN) osteogenic phenotype markers induced significantly in the HCl-etched-Ti samples, whereas only OC was induced on the H₂O₂-etched-Ti and OPN was expressed significantly in the NaOH-etched-Ti sample compared to polished-Ti. In addition, the NaOH-etched-Ti samples showed faster apatite deposition compared to the HCl- and H₂O₂-etched samples in the simulated body fluid.

Keywords:

• Titanium
• mesenchymal stem cells
• hydrothermal treatment
• bioactivity
• chemical etching