Effect of Nanotopography on the Attachment and Proliferation of Osteoblasts on Ti-6Al-4V Surface in the Absence of Exogeneous Adhesion Proteins

Attachment and proliferation of UMR 106-01 osteosarcoma cells on nano-pitted and nano-textured surfaces of Ti-6Al-4V have been examined in the presence of bovine serum albumin (BSA) in order to mimic the very early stages of in vivo implantation, and to understand the role of nano-topography. The nano-pittted topography produced by anodization of titanium contains a uniform distribution of about 50 nm diameter pits of approximately similar depth on otherwise a smooth titanium oxide surface. The nano-textured topography produced by NaOH etching contains spiky features and micro/nano-pits, and closely resembles the cytoskeletal morphology of osteoblasts. Osteoblast cells attach to the albumin coated NaOH etched titanium surface with a significantly better efficiency than on the polished or the anodized surfaces. However, both, the NaOH etched and the anodized surfaces are less conducive to the cell proliferation as compared to the polished surface.