Effect of calcium, zinc and magnesium on the attachment and spreading of osteoblast like cells onto ceramic matrices.

Calcium phosphate ceramic has been widely used as bone substitute materials. Neumerours approaches have been investigated to develop tissue-engineered scaffold from hydroxyapatite because of its advantages like osteoconduction. We have developed porous ceramic matrices from nanoparticles of calcium phosphate containing zinc and magnesium. Mimicking the grain size of natural bone enhances the bone forming function of cells. Osteoblast-like MG63 cells were cultured on to these porous ceramic matrices. Cell adhesion and spreading onto these matrices were studied for 24 h and 5 days in vitro. It was observed that on calcium phosphate matrix, containing a combination of zinc and magnesium, the osteoblast adhesion and spreading was significant on 5th day. This appeared to be comparable to the hydroxyapatite control. This makes it a promising candidate as a bone tissue-engineering scaffold.