Surface modification of nanoporous anodic titanium dioxide layers for drug delivery systems and enhanced SAOS-2 cell...

Nowadays, titanium and its alloys are the most commonly used implantable materials. The surface topography and chemistry of titanium-based implants are responsible for osseointegration. One of the methods to improve biocompatibility of Ti implants is a modification with sodium hydroxide (NaOH) or 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES). In the present study, anodic titanium dioxide (ATO) layers were electrochemically fabricated, and then immersed in a NaOH solution or in NaOH and APTES solutions. The functionalized samples were characterized by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). All samples were examined as drug delivery systems and scaffolds for cell culturing. Based on the parameters of the fitted desorption-desorption-diffusion (DDD) model parameters, it was concluded that the modification with NaOH increased the amount of released ibuprofen and inhibited the release process. Osteoblast-like cell line (SAOS-2) was used to investigate the cell response on the non-modified and modified ATO samples. The MTS test and immunofluorescent staining were carried out to examine cell adhesion and proliferation. The data showed that the modification of nanoporous TiO₂ layers with small molecules such as APTES enhanced metabolic activity of adhered cells compared with the non-modified and NaOH-modified TiO₂ layers. In addition, the cells had a polygonal-like morphology with distinct projecting actin filaments and were well dispersed over the whole analyzed surface.