Osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells on anodized niobium surface

Currently, titanium and its alloys are the most used materials for biomedical applications. However, because of the high costs of these metals, new materials, such as niobium, have been researched. Niobium appears as a promising material due to its biocompatibility, and excellent corrosion resistance. In this work, anodized niobium samples were produced and characterized. Their capacity to support the osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) was also tested. The anodized niobium samples were characterized by SEM, profilometry, XPS, and wettability. BM-MSCs were cultured on the samples during 14 days, and tested for cell adhesion, metabolic activity, alkaline phosphatase activity, and mineralization. Results demonstrated that anodization promotes the formation of a hydrophilic nanoporous oxide layer on the Nb surface, which can contribute to the increase in the metabolic activity, and in osteogenic differentiation of BM-MSCs, as well as to the extracellular matrix mineralization.