The Effects of SiC Foams on Cell Proliferation and Differentiation in Primary Osteoblasts

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate the possibility of silicon carbide (SiC) foam as an alternative material for porous hydroxyapatite (HA). The characters of two materials were evaluated and compared by a series of in vitro biological tests. The result of the morphology showed that SiC foam provided beneficial structure for cell migration. On the level of primary-osteoblasts proliferation measured by MTT assay and cell cycle analysis showed that the proliferation rate increased in the early stage on HA but in the advanced stage on SiC foam. There was no significant difference between the two materials on the level of cell differentiation detected by alkaline phosphatase (ALP) assay and real-time PCR. All of the results indicated that SiC foam was comparable to HA in terms of biocompatibility and bone conductivity.

Pre-oxidation induced in situ interface strengthening in biodegradable Zn/nano-SiC composites prepared by selective laser melting

“…Metal matrix composites (MMCs) have been proposed as a feasible approach to optimize the properties of metals. Among various reinforcements, SiC possesses outstanding mechanical performance and is also known as a kind of bioceramics with good biocompatibility and positive effect on osteoblasts [5] , [6] , [7] . Thus, it can be a potential candidate to improve the mechanical properties of Zn.…”

Both silicalite-1/SiC foam and ZSM-5/SiC foam may serve as novel bone replacement materials

“…Our previous study compared the biocompatibility between uncoated SiC foam and porous HA and revealed that SiC foam had comparable influences or long-term effects on the adhesion, proliferation and differentiation capacities of primary osteoblasts (8). This study aimed to investigate the bioactivity and in vitro biocompatibility of SiC foam coated with one of two types of zeolite (silicalite-1 or ZSM-5) as compared to uncoated SiC foam.…”

“…SiC ceramics have attracted a lot of interest in the field of biomedical devices and applications (2)(3)(4)(5). Our in vitro and in vivo studies revealed SiC foam materials had favorable biological safety, good osteoconductivity, and osteogenic properties, which are almost equivalent to those of hydroxyapatite (HA) (6)(7)(8). Although SiC foam has stable physical and chemical performances, proper mechanical strength (compression strength ≥30 MPa, and elastic modulus between 20 and 30 GPa at 70% porosity with 1,000 µm pore size), and a controllable three-dimensional microstructure that matches bone, SiC foam is inert.…”

Effects of collimated and focused low-intensity pulsed ultrasound stimulation on the mandible repair in rabbits

“…The porous SiC scaffold was prepared in the Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences (Shenyang, China) according to the protocol reported previously (12). The characteristics of porous SiC scaffold are as follows: pore size, 800-1,000 μm; porosity, 70-80%; blind hole rate, <1%; compression strength, 30 MPa; elastic modulus, 20 GPa.…”