Human mesenchymal stem cell adhesion and proliferation in response to ceramic chemistry and nanoscale topography

Modification of the chemistry and surface topography of nanophase ceramics was used to provide biomaterial formulations designed to direct the adhesion and proliferation of human mesenchymal stem cells (HMSCs). HMSC adhesion was dependent upon both the substrate chemistry and grain size, but not on surface roughness or crystal phase. Specifically, cell adhesion on alumina and hydroxyapatite was significantly reduced on the 50 and 24 nm surfaces, as compared with the 1500 and 200 nm surfaces, but adhesion on titania substrates was independent of grain size. HMSC proliferation was minimal on the 50 and 24 nm substrates of any chemistry tested, and thus significantly lower than the densities observed on either the 1500 or 200 nm surfaces after 3 or more consecutive days of culture. Furthermore, HMSC proliferation was enhanced on the 200 nm substrates, compared with results obtained on the 1500 nm substrates after 7 or more days of culture. HMSC proliferation was independent of both substrate surface roughness and crystal phase. Rat osteoblast and fibroblast adhesion and proliferation exhibited similar trends to that of HMSCs on all substrates tested. These results demonstrated the potential of nanophase ceramic surfaces to modulate functions of HMSCs, which are pertinent to biomedical applications such as implant materials and devices.