Modulation of osteoblast-like cell behavior cultured on hydroxyapatite by thrombin

Abstract

Blood proteins have been shown to be effective for osteoconduction and for biomaterial applications. The blood coagulation system progressed rapidly after biomaterial implantation. The interaction of biomaterials with blood coagulation proteins is considered to play an important role in osteoconduction. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the in vitro interaction of the coagulation factor with hydroxyapatite (HA) and the interaction of the coagulation factor with osteoblast-like cells cultured on HA. After 0.2 U/ml thrombin stimulation, the proliferation, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, adherent morphology, and tyrosine phosphorylation of the osteoblast-like cells cultured on HA samples were investigated. Incubation with 0.2 U/ml thrombin stimulation induced an increase in cell number and inhibition of ALP activity. The thrombin stimulation resulted in changes in the morphology of the adherent osteoblast-like cells and static bands recognized as tyrosine phosphorylated proteins lysed from adherent osteoblast-like cells in blot analysis. These results of this study indicated that the thrombin promoted the proliferation, changes of cell morphology, and inhibition of ALP activity. It was suggested that thrombin could affect the cell morphology and proliferation near the HA.