Search

The crucial factor of metal implant ingrowth in the bone is the rapid cellular acceptance. Therefore, the knowledge about additionally used adhesion mechanisms of osteoblasts, like their negatively charged hyaluronan coat, generates new surface functionalization strategies. Here, titanium was coated with a very thin, adherent, cross-linked, pinhole- and additive-free allylamine plasma polymer layer (PPAAm) resistant to hydrolysis and delamination and equipped with a high density of positively charged amino groups. This plasma polymer-functionalization of titanium is advantageous concerning osteoblastic focal adhesion formation as vinculin and paxillin, actin cytoskeleton development and, in consequence in differentiated cell functions, compared to a pure titanium surface-but similar such as the collagen I bonded surface via a polyethylenglycol-diacid (PEG DA)-spacer.

Topographically patterned surfaces are known to influence cellular behavior in a controllable manner. However, the relatively large surface areas (several cm2) required for many biomaterial applications are beyond the practical limits of traditional lithography. Langmuir-Blodgett lithography, a recently developed method, was used to fabricate regularly spaced grooves of different depths (50 and 150 nm) with a periodicity of 500 nm over several square centimeter on silicon surfaces. These topographies were transferred into polystyrene surfaces by means of nanoimprinting. Primary osteoblasts were cultured on the patterned polymer surfaces. They were observed to align, elongate and migrate parallel to the grooves. The combination of Langmuir-Blodgett lithography with nanoimprinting enables the fabrication of large, nanostructured surface areas on a wide spectrum of different biomaterials. Osteoblasts show a significant anisotropic behavior to these surfaces, which can enhance cell settlement on the surface or be used to direct tissue generation on the biomaterial interface.

The interactions between an implant material and the surrounding tissue are of a complicated nature, and the initial attachment of cells to the surface is important in determining the implant success. HAPEX has been developed as a second-generation orthopaedic biomaterial, with both mechanical and biological characteristics that make it suitable for bone augmentation. Further optimisation of the material is being continued to increase the attachment of osteoblasts coupled with improving mechanical characteristics, so it may be used in load bearing applications. It has been previously observed that polishing followed by roughening the surface of HAPEX enhances osteoblast proliferation and phenotype. This article discusses the recruitment of primary human osteoblast cells onto the optimised surface, by examining morphology and cytoskeletal changes using scanning electron microscopy and confocal laser scanning microscopy. The results show that the cells attach in greater numbers to the optimised surface, and develop notably faster, than cells on machined HAPEX.

Cell detachment by laminar shear stresses was used to characterize cellular interactions with hydrophilic glass and hydrophobic silane. In this study, we examined whether smaller, rounder cells were preferentially detached by laminar flow, and whether cell detachment occurred by dissociation of adhesion proteins and their membrane receptors or rupture of the membrane. Shear-induced detachment from glass and silane were similar after 0.5 h static attachment to the surfaces, even though 3T3 cells had a greater projected area on silane. No particular cell size was preferentially detached by fluid shear stresses. After 2 h attachment and spreading, 3T3 cells were more easily detached from the silane surface even though the cells were more spread than on glass. On glass, smaller cells were preferentially detached below 30 dyne/cm2, increasing the mean projected area of the population. Above 30 dyne/cm2, larger cells also detached from the surface. Cell detachment from the silane surfaces did not show any size preference. The strength of adhesion and projected areas on both surfaces increased significantly when the surfaces were preincubated with fibronectin. Simple geometric models of spreading cells were used to estimate the forces exerted on cells. The hydrodynamic forces exerted on spreading cells were similar, but the bond density needed to resist detachment declined as the projected area increased. Analysis of Dil-C18(3) membrane fragments indicated that cell detachment by membrane rupture was a significant mechanism of cell detachment from glass for shear stresses above 40 dyne/cm2, but was unimportant for cell detachment from the silane surfaces. The results indicate that differences in the strength of 3T3 cell adhesion were probably due to differences in bond strength and the numbers of receptor-ligand bonds formed on the two surfaces and, on glass, cell detachment due to membrane failure at higher shear stresses.