Background:The topography of an implant surface can serve as a powerful signaling cue for attached cells and can enhance the quality of osseointegration. A series of improved implant surfaces functionalized with nanoscale structures have been fabricated using various methods. Methods: In this study, using an H 2 O 2 process, we fabricated two size-controllable sawtooth-like nanostructures with different dimensions on a titanium surface. The effects of the two nanosawtooth structures on rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMMSCs) were evaluated without the addition of osteoinductive chemical factors. Results: These new surface modifications did not adversely affect cell viability, and rat BMMSCs demonstrated a greater increase in proliferation ability on the surfaces of the nanosawtooth structures than on a control plate. Furthermore, upregulated expression of osteogenicrelated genes and proteins indicated that the nano-sawtooth structures promote osteoblastic differentiation of rat BMMSCs. Importantly, the large nano-sawtooth structure resulted in the greatest cell responses, including increased adhesion, proliferation, and differentiation. Conclusion: The enhanced adhesion, proliferation, and osteogenic differentiation abilities of rat BMMSCs on the nano-sawtooth structures suggest the potential to induce improvements in bonetitanium integration in vivo. Our study reveals the key role played by the nano-sawtooth structures on a titanium surface for the fate of rat BMMSCs and provides insights into the study of stem cellnanostructure relationships and the related design of improved biomedical implant surfaces.