Bioactive material template for in vitro synthesis of bone.

We describe the synthesis of a new, porous, modified bioactive glass for use as a template for bone formation in vitro. The porosity of the glass was 36.4%; the pore size ranged from 10-160 mm, and there was no incipient devitrification. Prior to seeding the glass with cells, it was necessary to condition the disks. Optimum conditioning was achieved by immersing the templates in a tris buffer at pH 6.8 for 48 h and then treating the glass with tissue culture medium for 1 h at 37 degrees C. The conditioned glass disks were seeded with 10(6) neonatal rat calvaria osteoblast-like cells; cells on the substrate were maintained in culture for 3-7 days. To prevent pH shifts due to corrosion of the conditioned glass, the medium:glass ratio was maintained at 90 ml/g. We found that the templates were rapidly invaded by cells which maintained the osteoblast phenotype; thus, they exhibited high alkaline phosphatase activity and synthesized type I collagen and osteocalcin. SEM-EDAX showed that the cells elaborated substantial amounts of extracellular matrix and a bonelike tissue was present throughout the entire template thickness. FTIR analysis of material formed in the glass indicated that the mineral phase was a biologic hydroxyapatite. Controls (cells without substrate and substrate without cells) exhibited none of these features. Results of the study suggest that this porous glass can function as a template for generating bone in vitro.