International Journal of Nanomedicine (Mar 2024)
Highly Ordered Nanotube-Like Microstructure on Titanium Dental Implant Surface Fabricated via Anodization Enhanced Cell Adhesion and Migration of Human Gingival Fibroblasts
Abstract
Zhaoming Deng,1,2 Lerong Yu,1,2 Yishen Kuang,1,2 Ziyao Zhou,1,2 Xiangwei Li1 1Department of Stomatology, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Zhuhai City, 519000, People’s Republic of China; 2Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Biomedical Imaging, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Zhuhai City, 519000, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Xiangwei Li, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, East Meihua Road No. 52, Xiangzhou District, Zhuhai City, Guangdong Province, People’s Republic of China, Email [email protected]: Titanium (Ti) surface with nanotubes array via anodization has been used in dental implants to enhance bone regeneration but little research was carried out to evaluate whether the presence of highly ordered or disorderly distributed nanotubes array on titanium surface would have an effect on cell behaviors of gingival fibroblasts.Methods: The present study fabricated nanotubes arrays with varied topography under different constant voltage of electrochemical anodization in fluorine-containing electrolyte. Human gingival fibroblasts (HGFs) from extracted third molar were harvested and co-cultured with titanium disks with different nanotubes topography. Then cell behaviors of gingival fibroblasts including cell proliferation, adhesive morphology and cell migration were estimated to investigate the influence of titanium nanotubes on cell biology. Besides, gene and protein expression of adhesion molecule (integrin β 1/β 4/α 6, fibronectin, intracellular adhesion molecule-1 and collagen type I) were detected to evaluate the influence of different surfaces on cell adhesion.Results: Highly ordered arrays of nanotubes with pore diameter of 60 nm and 100 nm were fabricated under 30 and 40 V of anodization (TNT-30 and TNT-40) while disorderedly distributed nanotube arrays formed on the titanium surface under 50 V of anodization (TNT-50). Our results demonstrated that compared with raw titanium surface and disorderly nanotubes, surface with orderly nanotubes array increased cell area and aspect ratio, as well as cell migration ability in the early phase of cell adhesion (p< 0.05). Besides, compared with raw titanium surface, gene and protein expression of adhesion molecules were upregulated in nanotubes groups to different extents, no matter whether in an orderly or disorderly array.Conclusion: Within the limitations of our study, we conclude that compared with raw titanium surface, the presence of nanotubes array on titanium surface could enhance cells adhesion and cell migration in the early phase. And compared with disorderly distributed nanotubes, highly ordered nanotubes array might provide a much more favorable surface for gingival fibroblasts to achieve a tight adhesion on the materials. Keywords: nanotubes, gingival fibroblast, cell behaviors, cell adhesion, gingival sealing
