The
competition between cells integration and bacterial colonization
determines the fate of implantations. To reveal the effects of clinical
implant topographies on osteoblast differentiation and bacterial biofilm
formation, a series of micron/submicron/nano-hierarchical structures
were created at pure titanium surfaces (Ti-I, Ti-II, Ti-III). It was
found that the hierarchical structures promoted MC3T3-E1 cell differentiation
through contact guidance and Ti-II processed the best osteogenic ability.
Undesirably, hierarchical surfaces further accelerated the biofilm
formation due to submicron structures with low interaction. To reduce
the risk of bacterial infections, hierarchical structures were prepared
on the antibacterial Cu-bearing titanium alloy surfaces (TiCu-I, TiCu-II,
TiCu-III). Hierarchical topographies not only endowed TiCu surfaces
with antibacterial trapping characteristics due to CuO doped in the
outermost oxides layer but also shifted the corrosion behavior of
TiCu alloy into activation–passivation, increasing the Cu-ion
release rate and further promoting the osteogenic differentiation.
TiCu-III possessed excellent antibacterial trapping ability and optimal
osteogenic action. Finally, in the osteomyelitis-modeled mice, hierarchical
topographies aggravated the bacterial infection around Ti implants,
which entirely lost the osseointegration, while all of the TiCu surfaces
significantly inhibited the infection and accelerated the formation
of new bone tunnels around the implants. In vivo studies
successfully confirmed the tuning mechanism of hierarchical topographies
on the biological responses of bacteria and cells to the Ti and TiCu
alloys, which would pave the way to develop novel biofunctionalized
metal implants.