A comparative study on silicon nitride, titanium and polyether ether ketone on mouse pre‐osteoblast cells

Abstract

The current study provides more insights about the surface bioactivity of the silicon nitride (Si 3 N 4) as a potential candidate for bone regeneration in craniofacial and orthopaedic applications compared with conventional implantation materials. Current skeletal reconstructive materials such as titanium and polyether ether ketone (PEEK) are limited by poor long-term stability, biocompatibility and prolonged healing. Si 3 N 4 is an FDA-approved material for an intervertebral spacer in spinal fusion applications. It is biocompatible and has antimicrobial properties. Here, we hypothesize that Si 3 N 4 was found to be an osteoconductive material and conducts the growth, differentiation of MC3T3-E1 cells for extracellular matrix deposition, mineralization and eventual bone regeneration for craniofacial and orthopaedic applications. MC3T3-E1 cells were used to study the osteoblastic differentiation and mineralization on sterile samples of Si 3 N 4 , titanium alloy and PEEK. The samples were then analysed for extracellular matrix deposition and mineralization by FTIR, Raman spectroscopy, SEM, EDX, Alizarin Red, qRT-PCR and ELISA. The in vitro study indicates the formation of collagen fibres and mineral deposition on all three sample surfaces. There was more profound and faster ECM deposition and mineralization on Si 3 N 4 surface as compared to titanium and PEEK. The FTIR and Raman spectroscopy show formation of collagen and mineral deposition at 30 days for Si 3 N 4 and titanium and not PEEK. The peaks shown by Raman for Si 3 N 4 resemble closely to natural bone. Results also indicate the upregulation of osteogenic transcription factors such as RUNX2, SP7, collagen type I and osteocalcin. The authors concluded that Si 3 N 4 rapidly conducts mineralized tissue formation via extracellular matrix deposition and biomarker expression in mouse calvarial pre-osteoblast cells. Thus, this study confirms that the bioactive Si 3 N 4 could be a potential material for craniofacial and orthopaedic applications leading to rapid bone regeneration that resemble the natural bone structure.

Revolutionizing bone regeneration: advanced biomaterials for healing compromised bone defects

“…This shows the benefits of these coatings to play an antioxidant role during bone healing. Previous studies in our lab show that SiONx and Si 4+ reduce ROS through cationic reduction, endothelial cell activity (Figure 6) (Monte et al, 2018), and enhanced SOD1 activity while enhancing proliferation and differentiation of osteoprogenitor cells (Awad et al, 2019;Ahuja et al, 2021). Furthermore, these biomaterials have been tested on skeletal muscle cells and showed antioxidant activity as indicated by attenuating the toxic oxidative stress induced by hydrogen peroxide (Awad et al, 2021).…”

Silicon Nitride, a Close to Ideal Ceramic Material for Medical Application

“…Silicon nitride bone scaffolds and bone fusion devices [36] excel by high and reliable mechanical strength, biocompatibility, and antibiotic capability, resulting in a bone healing sequence comparable to hydroxylapatite [32]. MC3T3-E1 cells were used to study the osteoblastic differentiation and mineralization on sterile samples of silicon nitride, and compared them to samples of titanium and PEEK, standard materials for bone scaffolds [66]. The study reported more profound and faster ECM deposition and mineralization on Si3N4 surface as compared to titanium and PEEK.…”

Silicon Nitride Induces Osteoconduction Via Activated Mitochondrial Oxidative Phosphorylation and Neovascularization

“…To date, SiN is known to have biocompatible and osteoconductive properties. SiN discs [12] as well as SiN-coated Ti [13], polyetherketoneketone [14], and polyetheretherketone [15,16] discs were shown to increase in vitro bone formation of various osteogenic cells over conventional implant materials. These studies suggest that SiN has an enhanced osteoconductivity, although the biological mechanisms are not yet fully understood.…”