Initial osteoblast-like cell response to pure titanium and zirconia/alumina ceramics

Ko, Hee-Cheol; Han, Jung-Suk; Bächle, Maria; Jang, Jun-Hyeog; Shin, Sang-Wan; Kim, Dae-Joon

doi:10.1016/j.dental.2006.11.023

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Volume 23, Issue 11 , Pages 1349-1355, November 2007

Initial osteoblast-like cell response to pure titanium and zirconia/alumina ceramics

Hee-Cheol Ko
- Department of Oral Rehabilitation, Graduate School, Korea University, Republic of Korea
Jung-Suk Han
- Department of Prosthodontics, School of Dentistry and Dental Research Institute, Seoul National University, Seoul 110-749, Republic of Korea
- Corresponding author. Tel.: +82 2 2072 3711; fax: +82 2 764 9450.
Maria Bächle
- Dental School, Department of Prosthodontics, University Hospital Freiburg, Hugstetter Strasse 55, 79106 Freiburg, Germany
Jun-Hyeog Jang
- Department of Biochemistry, College of Medicine, Inha University, Incheon, Republic of Korea
Sang-Wan Shin
- Department of Oral Rehabilitation, Graduate School, Korea University, Republic of Korea
Dae-Joon Kim
- Department of Advanced Materials Engineering, Sejong University, Seoul 143-747, Republic of Korea

Received 26 June 2006; received in revised form 11 November 2006; accepted 16 November 2006.

Abstract

Objectives

Outstanding mechanical properties, resistance to scratching and high biocompatibility make zirconia/alumina ceramics interesting for dental applications. To solve the problem of the well-known low temperature degradation and to provide stable mechanical properties a novel zirconia alloy ((Y,Nb)-TZP/alumina) was developed. The aim of this study was to investigate the initial bone cell response to this new zirconia/alumina composite ceramic.

Methods

HOS cells were cultured on zirconia/alumina composite (Zc) and pure titanium (Ti) discs. Surface topography was examined by atomic force microscopy (AFM), cell morphology by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Cell proliferation (MTS) and alkaline phosphatase activity was measured at 1, 4 and 8 days. The mRNA expression of Cycline D1, the cell cycle regulating gene, integrin β 1, osteonectin (ON) and β-actin were evaluated by RT-PCR analysis after 12, 24 and 48h.

Results

Both substrates showed a very smooth character with R_a-values in the range of 0.002–0.113μm supporting a continuous cellular growth. After 8 days, cell proliferation on Zc was higher than on Ti. The mRNA expression of cyclin D1 showed similar activity after 48h on both surfaces, ALP activity was higher on Zc after 8 days. ON expression however showed no difference between the two groups.

Significance

Our data demonstrate that this new zirconia composite ceramic showed at least equivalent or slightly better biological response of osteoblast-like HOS cells than pure titanium during a short-time cell culture period.

Keywords: Zirconia/alumina ceramic, AFM, Osteoblast-like HOS cells, SEM, Cell proliferation, RT-PCR