Composite Coatings for Osteoblast Growth Attachment Fabricated by Matrix-Assisted Pulsed Laser Evaporation

Valentina Grumezescu; Alexandru Mihai Grumezescu; Anton Ficai; Irina Negut; Bogdan Ștefan Vasile; Bianca Gălățeanu; Ariana Hudiță

doi:10.3390/polym14142934

Composite Coatings for Osteoblast Growth Attachment Fabricated by Matrix-Assisted Pulsed Laser Evaporation

Polymers (Basel). 2022 Jul 20;14(14):2934. doi: 10.3390/polym14142934.

Authors

Valentina Grumezescu¹, Alexandru Mihai Grumezescu^{2

3

4}, Anton Ficai², Irina Negut¹, Bogdan Ștefan Vasile², Bianca Gălățeanu⁵, Ariana Hudiță⁵

Affiliations

¹ Lasers Department, National Institute for Lasers, Plasma and Radiation Physics, 077125 Magurele, Romania.
² Department of Science and Engineering of Oxide Materials and Nanomaterials, University Politehnica of Bucharest, 060042 Bucharest, Romania.
³ Academy of Romanian Scientists, Ilfov No. 3, 50044 Bucharest, Romania.
⁴ Research Institute of the University of Bucharest-ICUB, University of Bucharest, 050657 Bucharest, Romania.
⁵ Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Bucharest, 050095 Bucharest, Romania.

Abstract

The bioactive and biocompatible properties of hydroxyapatite (HAp) promote the osseointegration process. HAp is widely used in biomedical applications, especially in orthopedics, as well as a coating material for metallic implants. We obtained composite coatings based on HAp, chitosan (CS), and FGF2 by a matrix-assisted pulsed laser evaporation (MAPLE) technique. The coatings were physico-chemically investigated by means of X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Infrared Microscopy (IRM), and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Further, biological investigations were performed. The MAPLE-composite coatings were tested in vitro on the MC3T3-E1 cell line in order to endorse cell attachment and growth without toxic effects and to promote pre-osteoblast differentiation towards the osteogenic lineage. These coatings can be considered suitable for bone tissue engineering applications that lack toxicity and promotes cell adhesion and proliferation while also sustaining the differentiation of pre-osteoblasts towards mature bone cells.

Keywords: biocompatibility; chitosan; fibroblast growth factor; hydroxyapatite; matrix-assisted pulsed laser evaporation (MAPLE); metallic implants.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by a grant of the Romanian Ministry of Education and Research, CNCS-UEFISCDI, project number PN-III-P1-1.1-PD-2019-1185, within PNCDI III.