Effect of poly(3-octylthiophene) doping on the attachment and proliferation of osteoblasts

The effect of doping P3OT with ferric chloride on the attachment and proliferation of MC3T3-E1 osteoblasts is reported. Cell density and area correlated strongly with doping concentration: cells were larger and exhibited better spreading as doping increased. Cells cultured on undoped P3OT showed a decrease in proliferation between 24 and 48 h followed by a recovery after 72 h. However, this trend diminished with increasing doping concentration, and disappeared completely at the highest dopant level investigated. Analysis of cell-cell spatial distributions suggested that contact inhibition of proliferation occurred similarly on both undoped and doped P3OT. From these results, FeCl(3)-doping had no significant deleterious effect on attachment or proliferation of osteoblasts in vitro.