Biological evaluation of aerosol–gel-derived hydroxyapatite coatings with human mesenchymal stem cells

The bioactive properties of hydroxyapatite (HAP) are evaluated for applications involving the enhancement of biocompatible prostheses by seeding human pluripotent mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). The in vitro response of human MSCs seeded on aerosol–gel HAP coatings is addressed in this work. The processing of the HAP coatings has been carried out by the aerosol–gel technique using calcium nitrate and triethylphosphate as starting precursors. The characterization of the coatings was carried out by using transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, energy disperse X-ray microanalysis, and surface force microscopy, which confirmed the high performance of the HAP coatings. In vitro tests show that human MSCs adhere to aerosol–gel-derived HAP coatings and show proliferation signals on these surfaces.