Osteoblast differentiation of bone marrow stromal cells cultured on silica gel and sol-gel-derived titania

Primary cultures of osteogenic precursor cells derived from rat bone marrow stroma were performed on commercially available pure titanium discs (Ti c.p.) and surface modified Ti c.p.using a sol-gel technique (Ti sol). In separate repeated experimental runs, cell behavior and in vitro mineralization were compared with cultures on silica gel bioactive glass discs (S53P4). All substrates were incubated in simulated body fluid prior to the experiment. Overall, variable effects between experimental runs were seen. Apparently, this was due to the heterogeneous nature of the used cell population. Therefore, only careful conclusions can be made. Initial cell adhesion and growth rates between 3 and 5 days of culture--analyzed by cell numbers--were in general comparable for the two titanium substrates, while initial growth up to day 3 is suggested to be higher in Ti c.p. compared to Ti sol. Although initial cell adhesion on the S53P4 glass discs was lower than the titanium substrates, cell growth rates appeared to be higher on the silica gel compared to the two titanium substrates. Further, there were some indications that the early and late osteoblast differentiation markers, alkaline phosphatase and osteocalcin, monitored up to day 24, were elevated in Ti c.p cultures compared to Ti sol cultures. There were no differences observed in in vitro mineralization between the titanium groups. S53P4 seemed to display a substantially higher differentiating capacity for both osteogenic cell markers as well as in vitro mineralization compared to the two titanium substrates.