Osteoblasts Alignment on Nanophse Materials

Previous studies have shown increased responses of osteoblasts (bone-forming cells) on materials [1] with nanoscale surface features and enhanced biocompatibility for osteoblastlike cells on hydrophobic coating surfaces [2]. Also, carbon nanofibers (CNF) are considered a promising biomaterial as they are not toxic with osteoblasts and promote their function compared to larger dimensioned fibers [3, 4]. However, besides the importance for superior cytocompatibility with nanophase materials, the next generation biomaterials require detailed knowledge of the interactions of cells with individual nanometer structures. Also, from an orthopedic point of view, understanding the interactions of osteoblasts with ordered nanoscale surfaces (like aligned patterns) is intriguing since bone itself is a highly aligned nanophase material. In this work, it was found that actin filaments were strongly correlated with hydrophobic aligned nanometer surface features.