The osteogenic differentiation improvement of human mesenchymal stem cells on titanium grafted with polyNaSS bioactive polymer.

Osseointegration of metallic implants used in orthopedic surgery requires that osteoprogenitor cells attach and adhere to the surface, then proliferate, differentiate into osteoblasts, and finally produce mineralized matrix. Because the ability of progenitor cells to attach to a scaffold surface during early stages is important in the development of new tissue structures, we developed in our laboratory, a strategy involving grafting of implants with a polymer of sodium styrene sulfonate (polyNaSS) used as a scaffold which enables human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) interactions. In the present study, we investigated the cellular response of hMSCs to polyNaSS surfaces of titanium (Ti). In particular, cell proliferation, cell viability, cell differentiation, and cell spreading were evaluated. Results showed that cell proliferation and cell viability did not differ with any statistical significance between modified and unmodified Ti surfaces. Interestingly, culture of MSCs on polyNaSS surfaces resulted in a significant increase of cell spreading and cell differentiation compared with the other tested surfaces. These results suggest that titanium surface grafted with polyNaSS is a suitable scaffold for bone tissue engineering.

Development of proteomic tools to study protein adsorption on a biomaterial, titanium grafted with poly(sodium styrene sulfonate).

It is known that protein adsorption is the initial interaction between implanted biomaterials and biological environment. Generally, a complex protein layer will be formed on material surfaces within a few minutes and the composition of this layer at the interface determines the biological response to the implanted material, and therefore the long-term compatibility of the biomaterial. Despite different techniques exist to observe protein adsorption on biomaterials, none of them led to the identification of adsorbed proteins. In this paper, we report a chromatographic technique coupled to proteomics to analyse and identify proteins from complex biological samples adsorbed on biomaterial surfaces. This approach is based on (1) elaboration of the chromatographic support containing the biomaterial (2) a chromatography step involving adsorption of proteins on the biomaterial (3) the high-resolution separation of eluted proteins by 2-DE gel and (4) the identification of proteins by mass spectrometry. Experiments were performed with proteins from platelets rich plasma (PRP) adsorbed on a biomaterial which consist in titanium bioactivated with PolyNaSS. Our results show that chromatographic approach combined to 2-DE gels and mass spectrometry provides a powerful tool for the analysis and identification of proteins adsorbed on various surfaces.