Pre-adsorption of protein on electrochemically grooved nanostructured stainless steel implant and relationship to cellular activity.

The successful integration of a biomedical device is governed by the surface properties of the material and also depends on the interaction with the physiological fluid involving adsorption of proteins on the surface. Pre-adsorbed proteins act as pilots for cell adhesion and subsequently govern cellular activity. In this regard, nanograined materials are excellent vehicles to obtain an unambiguous understanding of protein adsorption, which regulate cell adhesion and cellular activity. Toward this end, we have used the concept of phase reversion-induced nanograined structure to understand grain structure-induced self-assembly of a model protein, bovine serum albumin. Furthermore, in the context of bio-mechanical interlocking between implant and bone, and osseointegration of the implant, grain boundaries were electrochemically grooved and studied for osteoblast functions. Experiments indicated that the significant differences in cell attachment, proliferation, and expression level of prominent proteins (actin, vinculin, and fibronectin) is related to synergistic effects of grain structure, pre-adsorbed protein, and grooving of grain boundaries such that the osteoblasts functions and cellular activity is promoted on the nanostructured surface in relation to the coarse-grained counterpart.