Abstract 45

Can we disguise an implant to promote skeletal tissue integration?

Hela Zreiqat

Bone Biomaterial Unit, School of Medical Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia

Despite major advances in prosthetic technologies, often implants fail, mainly due to bone erosion at the interface of skeletal tissue and the device. There is a need for fabricating materials to be "biologically" designed to ensure a strong anchorage of the device material in bone tissue, a key process for short- and long-term stability of implants. We propose that improved strength and integration rate of an implant in osseous tissue will be achieved by specifically altering the interfacial chemistry of a biomaterial with bioactive molecules. In our studies we use novel calcium phosphate ceramics divalent cations and/or divalent cations (magneium or zinc) to modify the surface of titanium implants without altering it's bulk properties. We showed that surface chemistry modification of titanium potentiate bone growth in vitro and in vivo. The intracellular signalling cascade triggered as a result of surface chemistry modification of biomaterials remains largely unknown. Key signaling proteins in osteoblasts such as extracellular regulated kinase 1/2 and activated protein-1 pathways were upregulated when bone cells were cultured onto the modified substrata. These data suggest that surface chemistry modification of titanium with bioactive agents may contribute to successful osteoblast function and differentiation at the skeletal tissue/device interface.

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