A study on the influence of biocompatible composites with bioactive ligands toward their effect on cell adhesion and growth for the application in bone tissue engineering

The aim of this study was the transformation of the macroporous zirconium dioxide ceramic Sponceram® into a biomimetic composite material. To enhance the adhesion of cells and to induce their differentiation into osteoblasts poly-L-lysine and BMP-2 were coupled to polymers and copolymers based on 2-deoxy-N-methacrylamido-D-glucose (ox.p(MAG) and p(MVA)) used as spacer, which were adsorbed onto the ceramic surface. The development of the composite materials was validated step by step qualitatively and quantitatively. The bioactive potential of the composite materials was tested under static and dynamic conditions using an osteoblastic model cell line and human mesenchymal stem cells. Both composite materials showed potential to enhance the adhesion of cells in the first 10 days of their cultivation. One of the composite materials, namely Sponceram®/ox.p(MAG)-BMP-2, was tested into a rotating-bed bioreactor with regard to its osteogenic differentiation-inducing potential. Compared with Sponceram® modified with BMP-2 without a polymer spacer, it showed increased expression of osteogenic markers determined by PCR analysis. In summary, the in vitro testing of the developed composite materials demonstrated a promising potential for their application as biomimetic scaffold materials with controllable properties.