Biocompatibility Analyses of Al2O3-Treated Titanium Plates Tested with Osteocyte and Fibroblast Cell Lines

Abstract

Osseointegration of a titanium implant is still an issue in dental/orthopedic implants durable over time. The good integration of these implants is mainly due to their surface and topography. We obtained an innovative titanium surface by shooting different-in-size particles of Al2O3 against the titanium scaffolds which seems to be ideal for bone integration. To corroborate that, we used two different cell lines: MLO-Y4 (murine osteocytes) and 293 (human fibroblasts) and tested the titanium scaffolds untreated and treated (i.e., Al2O3 shot-peened titanium surfaces). Distribution, density, and expression of adhesion molecules (fibronectin and vitronectin) were evaluated under scanning electron microscope (SEM) and confocal microscope (CM). DAPI and fluorochrome-conjugated antibodies were used to highlight nuclei, fibronectin, and vitronectin, under CM; cell distribution was analyzed after gold-palladium sputtering of samples by SEM. The engineered biomaterial surfaces showed under SEM irregular morphology displaying variously-shaped spicules. Both SEM and CM observations showed better outcome in terms of cell adhesion and distribution in treated titanium surfaces with respect to the untreated ones. The results obtained clearly showed that this kind of surface-treated titanium, used to manufacture devices for dental implantology: (i) is very suitable for cell colonization, essential prerequisite for the best osseointegration, and (ii) represents an excellent solution for the development of further engineered implants with the target to obtain recovery of stable dental function over time.

Biotribological performance of medical-grade UHMW polyethylene-based hybrid composite for joint replacement

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Biocompatibility and antibacterial properties of TiCu(Ag) thin films produced by physical vapor deposition magnetron sputtering

“…It has been reported that Cu exerts a very low cytotoxicity in human cells (TC50 value of 344±4.4 M in human gingival fibroblast [47]). Here, we tested the TiCu(Ag) thin films biocompatibility using MRC-5 human fibroblasts, a cell line widely used to perform cytotoxicity assays [48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56]. Human fibroblasts are responsible for synthesizing and depositing ECM components, mediate epithelial-mesenchymal interactions allowing other cells to settle and migrate along a three-dimensional support and thereby generating an organ-specific architecture.…”

Recent Advancements in Materials and Coatings for Biomedical Implants

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