Alkali-Treated, Nanostructured-Micro-Porous Titanium Surfaces Enhance Osteogenic Differentiation of Adipose Derived Stem Cells

Ensuring effective integration between the material of an implant and bone is critical to orthopedic implants’ success in the long term. A major issue with dense materials is the mechanical mismatch between them and the bone, which leads to improper osseointegration. Porous implants have presented a solution to this issue as they are able to retain material properties in addition to decreasing mismatches. In order to make implants more biomimetic and to match the micro-/nano hierarchy of bone, several surface modifications have been explored in the literature. Hydrothermal treatment in an alkali media on dense titanium has demonstrated higher differentiation of adipose-derived stem cells to osteogenic lineages. In this study, we fabricated nanostructures using hydrothermal treatment in an alkali medium on micro-porous titanium surfaces and evaluated the adhesion, proliferation, and differentiation of adipose derived stem cells to osteoblasts. The nanostructured-micro-porous titanium surfaces displayed enhanced osteogenic differentiation of adipose derived stem cells. Therefore, they have the potential to be used as surfaces for the fabrication of orthopedic implants.