Surface Modification of Porous Titanium with Microarc Oxidation and Its Effects on Osteogenesis Activity In Vitro

Microarc oxidation (MAO) is a method about surface treatment that can provide nanoporous pits and thick oxide layers. A kind of porous metal-entangled titanium (Ti) wire material was treated with MAO process, resulting in a homogeneous rough TiO2 layer, which helped facilitate MG-63 cell growth, cell viability, early cell differentiation, and cell mineralization in vitro. In addition, the MAO-treated Ti surfaces could promote the proliferation of MG-63 cells without sacrificing differentiation in vitro, which would benefit de novo bone formation around MAO-treated titanium at the early stage. The transcription levels of the extracellular matrix genes of osterix (OSX), collagen type I (Col I), bone sialoprotein (BSP), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), osteocalcin (OC) and osteopontin (OPN) and their protein expression levels were measured, suggesting that the cocultured cells with MAO titanium maintained the osteoblastic phenotype and that the MAO-treated titanium surface greatly stimulated osteoblast cell proliferation and differentiation compared to the untreated titanium. In conclusion, MAO technique can improve the surface of titanium and can contribute to the osseointegration process.