Evaluation of osteoinduction and proliferation on nano-Sr-HAP: a novel orthopedic biomaterial for bone tissue regeneration.

Hydroxyapatite (HAP), a CaP compound similar to the mineral phase present in bone, has excellent biocompatibility but little osseous inductivity. In this study, we evaluated the novel nano-Sr-HAP, in which the calcium of hydroxyapatite was substituted with strontium, which acts as a bone-forming agent. Its biocompatibility and osteoinduction were assayed using marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and osteoblasts (OBs) in vitro. We were able to demonstrate that nano-Sr-HAP supported increased OB cell adhesion, proliferation and viability up to 4 days in culture when compared with nano-HAP. MSCs cultured with nano-Sr-HAP showed higher alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity. More extracellular mineralized nodules were found with nano-Sr-HAP compared to nano-HAP, especially in images of ALP staining. We suggest that nano-Sr-HAP powders possess osteoconductive and osteoinductive properties and have the potential to be used in the repair of bone defects caused by osteoporotic fractures.