Orthopedics Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Orthopedics, including details on chronic injuries, muscoskeletal disorders, surgery, reconstruction.

Mineralization of SaOS-2 cells on enzymatically (silicatein) modified bioactive osteoblast-stimulating surfaces.

Schröder HC, Boreiko O, Krasko A, Reiber A, Schwertner H, Müller WE

Institut für Physiologische Chemie, Abteilung Angewandte Molekularbiologie, Universität, Duesbergweg 6, D-55099 Mainz, Germany.

There is a demand for novel bioactive supports in surgery, orthopedics, and tissue engineering. The availability of recombinant silica-synthesizing enzyme (silicatein) opens new possibilities for the synthesis of silica-containing bioactive surfaces under ambient conditions that do not damage biomolecules like proteins. Here it is shown that growth of human osteosarcoma SaOS-2 cells on cluster plates precoated with Type 1 collagen is not affected by additional coating of the plates with the recombinant silicatein and incubation with its enzymatic substrate, tetraethoxysilane (TEOS). However, the enzymatic modification of the plates by biosilica deposition on the protein-coated surface caused a marked increase in calcium phosphate formation of SaOS-2 cells as revealed by alizarin red-S staining to quantify calcium mineral content. The increased occurrence of calcium-phosphate nodules on the modified surface was also observed by scanning electron microscopy. These results suggest that by supporting calcium-phosphate deposition in vitro, biosilica (silicatein)-modified surfaces are potentially bioactive in vivo, by stimulating osteoblast mineralization function.

Published 24 October 2005 in J Biomed Mater Res B Appl Biomater, 75(2): 387-92.
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