Purpose: This study was intended to modify the surface of pure titanium by micro-arc oxidation (MAO), and to investigate the effects of MAO process on the biological behavior of MC3T3-E1 osteoblastic cells.
Methods: MAO treatment of specimens were carried out using a staggered voltage boost procedure. The surface topography of the prepared specimens were observed by field emission scanning electron microscopy. Contact angle measurements were tested on a contact angle measuring system. MC3T3-E1 cells were cultured on specimens and the number of adhesion cells at 60 and 120 min were investigated by MTT. After 4 h of culture, cytoskeleton of the attached cells were examined using laser confocal scanning microscope. After 24, 72, 120 and 168 h of post seeding, cell proliferation were assessed using MTT assay. On day 16 of culture, the expressions of osteogenesis-related genes were analyzed through real time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). The data was analyzed using SPSS 16.0 software package.
Results: A porous oxide layer was grown on pure titanium substrates via MAO process. The contact angles for water and glycerol on the MAO surface were smaller than polished surface. At 2 culture times, the MAO surface showed significantly higher cell adhesion than polished surface. Actin staining indicated that the cells spread well on the MAO surface. At 72, 120 and 168 h, better cell proliferation were seen for MAO surfaces compared with that on the polished surface, but there was no significant difference. The qPCR showed that no obvious variations in gene expression of RUNX2 and ALP by MC3T3-E1 cells were observed on 2 different surfaces.
Conclusions: Compared with polished surface, better adhesion of MC3T3-E1 cells are observed on MAO surface. However, no obvious change in gene expression of RUNX2 and ALP were observed between the MAO surface and polished surface.