Effect of surface roughness on osteogenesis in vitro and osseointegration in vivo of carbon fiber-reinforced polyetheretherketone–nanohydroxyapatite composite

Abstract

As United States Food and Drug Administration-approved implantable material, carbon fiber-reinforced polyetheretherketone (CFRPEEK) possesses an adjustable elastic modulus similar to cortical bone and is a prime candidate to replace surgical metallic implants. The bioinertness and inferior osteogenic properties of CFRPEEK, however, limit its clinical application as orthopedic/dental implants. In this study, CFRPEEK–nanohydroxyapatite ternary composites (PEEK/n-HA/CF) with variable surface roughness have been successfully fabricated. The effect of surface roughness on their in vitro cellular responses of osteoblast-like MG-63 cells (attachment, proliferation, apoptosis, and differentiation) and in vivo osseointegration is evaluated. The results show that the hydrophilicity and the amount of Ca ions on the surface are significantly improved as the surface roughness of composite increases. In cell culture tests, the results reveal that the cell proliferation rate and the extent of osteogenic differentiation of cells are a function of the size of surface roughness. The composite with moderate surface roughness significantly increases cell attachment/proliferation and promotes the production of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity and calcium nodule formation compared with the other groups. More importantly, the PEEK/n-HA/CF implant with appropriate surface roughness exhibits remarkably enhanced bioactivity and osseointegration in vivo in the animal experiment. These findings will provide critical guidance for the design of CFRPEEK-based implants with optimal roughness to regulate cellular behaviors, and to enhance biocompability and osseointegration. Meanwhile, the PEEK/n-HA/CF ternary composite with optimal surface roughness might hold great potential as bioactive biomaterial for bone grafting and tissue engineering applications.

Response of hPDLSCs on 3D printed PCL/PLGA composite scaffolds in�vitro

“…However, in the present study, early cell attachment and proliferation did not alter correspondingly with the increase in surface roughness. This result was in accordance with studies reported by Liao et al ( 44 ) and Deng et al ( 45 ). Therefore, superior hPDLSC responses on the PCL/PLGA scaffolds may be attained by modifying surface roughness with different ratios of PCL/PLGA.…”

Characterization of New PEEK/HA Composites with 3D HA Network Fabricated by Extrusion Freeforming

“…HA scaffold with a pore size of 200 μm is fully infiltrated by PEEK in both vertical (infiltration depth was 3 mm) and lateral directions, while maintaining the HA network structure and uniformity (Figure 3c). Both bioactive phase and PEEK matrix are fully interconnected, which is superior to existing techniques [20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28].…”

“…Different processing methods such as compounding and injection molding [17,18,19,20,21], compression molding [22,23,24,25], cold press sintering [26,27,28] and selective laser sintering (SLS) [29,30,31,32] have been used to produce bioactive PEEK/HA and β-TCP composites. Functionally graded PEEK/HA biocomposites can also be produced by layer-by-layer casting method [33].…”

Biological Response to Carbon-Family Nanomaterials: Interactions at the Nano-Bio Interface

“…Some studies have demonstrated that the topographical surface properties of carbon-based nanomaterials could regulate the cells behaviors in two ways including; directly through affecting cytoskeleton or indirectly via protein alignment and unfolding (Lim and Donahue, 2007; Fraczek-Szczypta et al, 2015; Park and Im, 2015). It has been reported that the surface roughness could potentially increase the hydrophobicity of carbon-based nanomaterials' surface (Deng et al, 2015). In addition, the size of carbon-based nanomaterials could have a meaningful impact on the molecular and cellular responses (Fujita et al, 2015).…”