The Biocompatibility of Nitrided Titanium Alloy for Bone Implantation Studied by Laser Flow Cytometry, Laser Scanning Cytometry and Confocal Microscopy

Objectives: Cell adhesion is a fundamental process influencing cell growth and dispersal, and can be studied by different methods.
Methods: The aim of our study was to evaluate the ability of human fibroblasts and osteoblasts to adhere to samples with nitrided surface layers produced under glow discharge conditions on titanium alloy using laser flow cytometry (FC), laser scanning cytometry (LSC) and confocal microscopy (CM). The expression of fibronectin and its receptor – α5β1 integrin (the CD49e molecule) was analyzed.
Results and Conclusions: Our results showed that fibroblasts and osteoblast-like cells (Saos-2 cell lines) adhere to a TiN+Ti2N+αTi(N) surface layer, which favours its application in bone surgery. Employment of LSC together with CM for analysis of cell behavior in contact with biomaterials seems to be very useful, while FC analysis of chemically harvested cells should be carefully taken into account in the study of cell adhesion processes.

Keywords: Nitrided Titanium Alloy, Cell Adhesion, fibronectin, CD49e, Laser Scanning