Nanostructured Ti₆Al₄V surfaces: effect on the growth of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs)

Recent researches with metals and metal alloys for biomaterials application show that it is important to control corrosion resistance and biocompatibility properties. Normally, the corrosion products are metal salts and they can be damaging to tissues, causing inflammation and necrosis. The most used metals for this purpose are titanium and titanium alloys as Ti₆Al₄V, since they have high corrosion resistance and good biocompatibility. For biomedical applications focusing on enhancing the bone-implant contact, nanotexturing processes as electropolishing/anodization have been proposed. In this context, the aim of this research was to evaluate the influence of the nanotopography of nanostructured surfaces of Ti₆Al₄V obtained by electrochemical treatment on cell growth of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs). In this study, three systems were used: electrochemically treated systems for 4 and 12 minutes and sanded sample. The systems were characterized by Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), Profilometry, X-ray diffraction, FEG-SEM and wettability. All systems were seeded with human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) during 14 days of cell culture, after that, the cell number was evaluated. Preliminary results indicated those surfaces with higher nanometric and micrometric roughness to contribute to increasing the cell number of hESCs in the osteogenic media. (author)