Cell population of mesenchymal stem cells on micro-patterned titanium

Dental implants are highly effective for improving the occlusion function after tooth loss. However, ordinarily titanium dental implants sometimes require long term for the osseointegration. If there is insufficient bone in the patients, surgical pre-treatment such as autologous bone transplantation is required, imposing a big burden on the patient. Furthermore, a predominance of invasion of the gingival epithelium by epithelial cells at an early stage increases the risk of unsuccessful osseointegration. Therefore, to reduce the burden on the patient and increase the success rate of dental implant treatment, we need to develop a dental implant that can promote osseointegration more quickly and efficiently. We presumed that it would be one of efficient strategies for the quick and reliable osseointegration if we could control the cell population around the dental implant. Here, we micro-patterned a titanium surface by using a gelatin matrix. Mesenchymal stem cells were cultured, and cell populations were investigated. On the titanium surface with a micro-patterned gelatin matrix, mesenchymal stem cells first adhered to the titanium and then to the gelatin, enabling cell adhesion to be controlled time dependently. These results suggest that it may be possible to develop functional dental implants in which we can control the cell population of epithelial and mesenchymal stem cells and can promote quick and reliable osseointegration.