[Effect of porous zirconia ceramics on proliferation and differentiation of osteoblasts].

Objective: To investigate the effect of porous surface morphology of zirconia on the proliferation and differentiation of osteoblasts.

Methods: According to different manufacturing and pore-forming methods, the zirconia specimens were divided into 4 groups, including milled sintering group (M-Ctrl), milled porous group (M-Porous), 3D printed sintering group (3D-Ctrl) and 3D printed porous group (3D-Porous). The surface micromorphology, surface roughness, contact angle and surface elements of specimens in each group were detected by scanning electron microscope (SEM), 3D laser microscope, contact angle measuring device and energy-dispersion X-ray analysis, respectively. MC3T3-E1 cells were cultured on 4 groups of zirconia discs. The cell morphology of MC3T3-E1 cells on zirconia discs was eva-luated on 1 and 7 days by SEM. The cell proliferation was detected on 1, 3 and 5 days by cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8). After osteogenic induction for 14 days, the relative mRNA expression of alkaline phosphatase (), type Ⅰ collagen (), Runt-related transcription factor-2 () and osteocalcin () in MC3T3-E1 cells were detected by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction.

Results: The pore size [(419.72±6.99) μm] and pore depth [(560.38±8.55) μm] of 3D-Porous group were significantly larger than the pore size [(300.55±155.65) μm] and pore depth [(69.97±31.38) μm] of M-Porous group ( < 0.05). The surface of 3D-Porous group appeared with more regular round pores than that of M-Porous group. The contact angles of all the groups were less than 90°. The contact angles of 3D-Ctrl (73.83°±5.34°) and M-Porous group (72.7°±2.72°) were the largest, with no significant difference between them (>0.05). Cells adhered inside the pores in M-Porous and 3D-Porous groups, and the proliferation activities of them were significantly higher than those of M-Ctrl and 3D-Ctrl groups after 3 and 5 days' culture ( < 0.05). After 14 days' incubation, , , and mRNA expression in 3D-Porous groups were significantly lower than those of M-Ctrl and 3D-Ctrl groups ( < 0.05). , and mRNA expressions in M-Porous group were higher than those of 3D-Porous group ( < 0.05).

Conclusion: The porous surface morphology of zirconia can promote the proliferation and adhesion but inhibit the differentiation of MC3T3-E1 cells.