Comparison the Effect of RGD Peptide Conjugation on Titanium Discs with Different Methods on Cell Adhesion and Proliferation

Metallic biomaterials have high fracture toughness and tensile strength compared to other implant materials such as ceramics and polymers. Accordingly, metallic implants are widely used in orthopedic. Titanium (Ti) is a frequently preferred biomaterial due to the properties such as resistance to corrosion, non-toxicity to the human body and mechanical strength. However, when Ti implants cannot be sufficiently osteo-integrated in the host bone, bone tissue formation fails and limits the use of these implants. Today, Ti surfaces can potentially be functionalized to provide useful additional features such as overcome above corrosion resistance, increasing bioactivity and osteo-integration properties. The ability of cells to attach to Ti implants and secrete extracellular matrix (ECM) molecules improve new functional tissue formation. Integrins which present in the cell structure, play an active role in cell adhesion and interact with short amino acid sequences in extracellular matrix molecules. Especially, the RGD (Arg-Gly-Asp) sequence, has been described as mediating cells of various plasma and ECM proteins, including fibronectin, vitronectin, type 1 collagen, osteopontin and bone sialoprotein. Bioactive peptide constructs that are conjugated to the surface of implants have the potential to increase implant cell interaction, inhibit fibrous tissue formation, and provide direct osteointegration of the implant. The most effective way of achieving peptide conjugation to the implant surface, which is an important step at this point, can be considered as a parameter directly affecting osteointegration. In this study, we aim to evaluate the efficacy of commonly used Ti-peptide conjugation methods on cell attachment and proliferation. Moreover, competitive conjugation success was interpreted by fluorescence imaging technique, contact angle measurement and AFM (Atomic Force Microscopy).