Surface chemistry regulates the sensitivity and tolerability of osteoblasts to various magnitudes of fluid shear stress.

Scaffolds provide a physical support for osteoblasts and act as the medium to transfer mechanical stimuli to cells. To verify our hypothesis that the surface chemistry of scaffolds regulates the perception of cells to mechanical stimuli, the sensitivity and tolerability of osteoblasts to fluid shear stress (FSS) of various magnitudes (5, 12, 20 dynes/cm2 ) were investigated on various surface chemistries (-OH, -CH3 , -NH2 ), and their follow-up effects on cell proliferation and differentiation were examined as well. The sensitivity was characterized by the release of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), nitric oxide (NO) and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2 ) while the tolerability was by cellular membrane integrity. The cell proliferation was characterized by S-phase cell fraction and the differentiation by ALP activity and ECM expression (fibronectin and type I collagen). As revealed, osteoblasts demonstrated higher sensitivity and lower tolerability on OH and CH3 surfaces, yet lower sensitivity and higher tolerability on NH2 surfaces. Observations on the focal adhesion formation, F-actin organization and cellular orientation before and after FSS exposure suggest that the potential mechanism lies in the differential control of F-actin organization and focal adhesion formation by surface chemistry, which further divergently mediates the sensitivity and tolerability of ROBs to FSS and the follow-up cell proliferation and differentiation. These findings are essentially valuable for design/selection of desirable surface chemistry to orchestrate with FSS stimuli, inducing appropriate cell responses and promoting bone formation.