Osteogenic composite nanocoating based on nanohydroxyapatite, strontium ranelate and polycaprolactone for titanium implants

Titanium and its alloys are commonly used as dental and bone implant materials. Biomimetic coating of titanium surfaces could improve their osteoinductive properties. In this work, we have developed a novel osteogenic composite nanocoating for titanium surfaces, which provides a natural environment for facilitating adhesion, proliferation, and osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Electrospinning was used to produce composite nanofiber coatings based on polycaprolactone (PCL), nano-hydroxyapatite (nHAp) and strontium ranelate (SrRan). Thus, four types of coatings, i.e., PCL, PCL/nHAp, PCL/SrRan, and PCL/nHAp/SrRan, were applied on titanium surfaces. To assess chemical, morphological and biological properties of the developed coatings, EDS, FTIR, XRD, XRF, SEM, AFM, in-vitro cytotoxicity and in-vitro hemocompatibility analyses were performed. Our findings have revealed that the composite nanocoatings were both cytocompatible and hemocompatible; thus PCL/HAp/SrRan composite nanofiber coating led to the highest cell viability. Osteogenic culture of MSCs on the nanocoatings led to the osteogenic differentiation of stem cells, confirmed by alkaline phosphatase activity and mineralization measurements. The findings support the notion that the proposed composite nanocoatings have the potential to promote new bone formation and enhance bone-implant integration.