Sol-Gel-derived TiO2-SiO2 implant coatings for direct tissue attachment. Part II: Evaluation of cell response.

Silica-releasing sol-gel derived TiO2-SiO2 coatings with tailored nanostructure were evaluated in fibroblast and osteoblast cell cultures. The adhesion of both fibroblasts and osteoblasts proceeded within two hours. The highest fibroblast proliferation activities were observed on the TiO2-SiO2 (70:30) and (30:70) coatings. However, the cell layer on TiO2-SiO2 (30:70) coating was disordered. Prolonged osteoblast activity was observed on the coatings as a function of increased amount of released silica. At day 21 the surfaces were fully covered by the calcified nodules and extracellular matrix except for the coatings TiO2-SiO2 (10:90) i.e. having the highest SiO2 amount. The results suggested that TiO2-SiO2 (70:30) was the best for fibroblasts and TiO2-SiO2 (30:70) for osteoblasts. The applicability of the sol-gel derived TiO2 and TiO2-SiO2 coatings as an alternative for the calcium phosphate based implant coatings are discussed.