Cell Behaviour of the Biomimetic Modifications on a New TiHfNb Alloy Developed for Orthopaedic Applications

The field of cellular behaviour and the biomimetic modifications on inorganic materials destined for biomedical applications shows a remarkable increase in scientific studies and, therefore, this is reflected in the investment priorities and the fundamental effort of the global research community in this area. The essential purpose of this study is to assessment the cellular behaviour of a novel TiHfNb alloy with biomimetic modification. For the mimic surface, the samples were initially bioactive with oxygen plasma or with piranha, then the following samples were biofunctionalized with APTES + maleimide and finally different surface peptide sequences were immobilized (RGD, FHRRIKA, PHSRN or 50/50 mixtures of RGD / FHRRIKA or RGD / PHSRN). To evaluate the biomimetic modification, adhesion and cell proliferation studies were carried out. Different techniques for chemical characterization were used, including: X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), contact angle (CA), immunofluorescence, scanning electron microscope (SEM) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH). With respect to the different peptide sequences used, the results indicated that the samples with RGD and the mixture exhibited more extended cells on the surface. (paper)