Elsevier

Biomaterials

Volume 23, Issue 5, March 2002, Pages 1383-1389
Biomaterials

Morphological behavior of osteoblast-like cells on surface-modified titanium in vitro

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0142-9612(01)00259-9Get rights and content

Abstract

In recent papers, we reported the results of a study on the graded porous titanium coatings on titanium by plasma spraying and amino-group ion implantation. The paper is to preliminarily evaluate the biocompatibility of surface-modified titanium through 2, 5 and 7 days cell culture in vitro. Cell morphology was observed by a scanning electron microscope. Cell proliferation and type I collagen synthesis were measured by 3(4,5-dimethyl-thiazole-2-yl)2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), respectively. Our experimental results showed that osteoblast-like cells attached and spread well on surface-modified titanium. Cells were observed to grow into the pores and form extracellular matrix. MTT and ELISA results showed no detrimental effect on the development of cell. These studies support the biocompatibility of surface-modified titanium.

Introduction

Titanium (Ti) and its alloys have been widely used in dental and orthopedic fields such as biomaterials. Surface properties of Ti have been improved by various methods including calcium phosphate or oxide coating [1], [2], [3], ion implantation [4], [5], [6], [7], [8] and alkali treatment [9], [10], [11], [12], [13], [14]. In recent papers, we reported the results of a study on the graded porous titanium coatings on titanium by plasma spraying [15] and amino (NH2+)-group ion implantation [16]. The purpose of this paper is to provide the preliminary information on in vitro biocompatibility of the surface-modified titanium. Generally, the biocompatibility of biomaterials is very closely related to cell behavior on contact with them and particularly to cell adhesion to their surface. The cell attachment, adhesion and spreading belong to the first phase of cell/biomaterial interactions and the quality of this first phase will influence the cell's capacity to proliferate and to differentiate itself on contact with the implant [17]. In the present paper, the cell behavior on surface-modified Ti was investigated by morphological behavior observation, cell proliferation and differentiation.

Section snippets

Materials

Four kinds of surface-modified Ti materials were used for the experiments, including sandblasted Ti (ST), plasma-sprayed porous Ti (PST), sandblasted and ion-implanted Ti (SIT) and plasma-sprayed and ion-implanted Ti (PSIT). In addition, hydroxyapatite [18] and A-W bioglass sintered in air were also compared.

Cells in material-free culture

During the 5 days of culture, the cells attached, spread and proliferated on the bottom of the wells, exhibiting morphologies ranging from spindle-shaped to polygonal ones (Fig. 1).

Surface-modified Ti samples under culture medium without cells

Fig. 2 shows SEM images of the surface-modified Ti samples under culture medium without cells for 5 days. It showed that ST and SIT had dense surfaces with little roughness. The PST and PSIT had porous surfaces. Some silk-like substances appeared on PSIT, likely due to culture medium. No significant effect of culture

Discussion

A better understanding of cell/orthopedic biomaterial interactions can be helpful to the development of more effective orthopedic and dental implants [19], [20]. Cell behavior in vitro is related to surface morphology and composition of the surface-modified Ti. Plasma spraying obviously increased the surface roughness and macropores of PST and PSIT. Amino-group ion implantation formed a thicker surface oxide layer with small amount of nitrides of SIT and PSIT. The purpose of this research is to

Acknowledgements

This study was funded by NIH Grant 1RO1AR46581 and Chinese 973 Hi-Tech Project (G19990647-02).

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  • Cited by (0)

    Contractor grant sponsors: NIH Grant 1RO1AR46581 and Chinese 973 Hi-Tech Project (G19990647-02).

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