Adhesion of Osteoblasts to a Vertically Aligned TiO2 Nanotube Surface

Ekaterina      Gongadze; Doron      Kabaso; Sebastian      Bauer; Jung      Park; Patrik      Schmuki; Ales      Iglic

Abstract

The adhesion of cells to vertically aligned TiO2 nanotubes is reviewed. The attraction between a negatively charged nanotube surface and a negatively charged osteoblast is facilitated by charged protein-mediators like proteins with a quadrupolar internal charge distribution, fibronectin and vitronectin. It is shown that adhesion and spreading of osteoblasts on vertically aligned TiO2 nanotube surfaces depend on the diameter of the nanotubes. Apparently, a small diameter nanotube surface has on average more sharp convex edges per unit area than a large one, leading to stronger binding affinity on its surface.

Keywords: TiO2 nanotube surfaces, adhesion, dynamic simulations, nanostructured surface topography, osteoblast adhesion

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