Osteogenic differentiation of cultured marrow stromal stem cells on the surface of bioactive glass ceramics

To investigate the significance of apatite-wollastonite-containing glass ceramic (AW ceramic) surfaces and the biological apatite layer formed on these surfaces, rat marrow cell culture, which shows osteogenic differentiation, was carried out on four different culture substrata (control culture dish, two AW ceramics, each having a different surface roughness, and a ceramic on which an apatite layer was formed. A culture period of 2 weeks in the presence of beta-glycerophosphate, ascorbic acid, and dexamethasone resulted in abundant mineralized nodule formations that were positive for alkaline phosphatase (ALP) stain on all substrata. The stain on the apatite-formed AW ceramic was the most intense, the enzyme activity being about twice that of the control culture dish, which had the lowest stain and activity of the four substrata. Northern blot analysis of bone Gla protein (BGP) showed the same tendency, that is, the amount of BGP mRNA from cultured cells on the apatite-formed AW ceramics was the highest and the mRNA on the control dish was the lowest. These data indicate that the glass ceramic surface promotes osteoblastic differentiation and that the promotion can be further enhanced by the formation of a biological apatite layer on the ceramic surface.