Surface engineering of titanium with potassium hydroxide and its effects on the growth behavior of mesenchymal stem cells

To improve the corrosion resistance and biological performance of commercially pure titanium (cp-Ti) substrates, potassium hydroxide was employed to modify the surfaces of titanium substrates, followed by biomimetic deposition of apatite on the substrates in a simulated body fluid. The morphologies of native and treated titanium substrates were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). Treatment with potassium hydroxide led to the formation of intermediate layers of potassium titanate on the surfaces of titanium substrates, while apatite was subsequently deposited onto the intermediate layer. The formation of potassium titanate and apatite was confirmed by thin-film X-ray diffraction and FE-SEM equipped with energy dispersive spectroscopy, respectively. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy showed that the formed potassium titanate layer improved the corrosion-resistance properties of titanium substrates. The influence of modified titanium substrates on the biological behavior of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), including osteogenic differentiation, was investigated in vitro. Compared with cp-Ti substrates, MSCs cultured onto alkali- and heat-treated titanium substrates and apatite-deposited titanium substrates displayed significantly higher (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01) proliferation and differentiation levels of alkaline phosphatase and osteocalcin in 7 and 14 day cultures, respectively. More importantly, our results suggest that the modified titanium substrates have great potential for inducing MSCs to differentiate into osteoblasts. The approach presented here may be exploited to fabricate titanium-based implants.