A comprehensive understanding of the interactions between orthopaedic and dental implant surfaces with the surrounding host tissue is essential in the design of advanced biomaterials that better promote bone growth and osseointegration of implants. Dental implants with roughened surfaces and high surface energy are well known to promote osteoblast differentiation in vitro and promote increased bone-to-implant contact in vivo. In addition, increased surface roughness increases osteoblasts response to the vitamin D metabolite 1α,25(OH)2D3. However, the exact mechanisms mediating cell response to surface properties and 1α,25(OH)2D3 are still being elucidated. The central aim of the thesis is to investigate whether integrin signaling in response to rough surface microtopography enhances osteoblast differentiation and responsiveness to 1α,25(OH)2D3. The hypothesis is that the integrin α5β1 plays a role in osteoblast response to surface microtopography and that 1α,25(OH)2D3 acts through VDR-independent pathways involving caveolae to synergistically enhance osteoblast response to surface roughness and 1α,25(OH)2D3. To test this hypothesis the objectives of the studies performed in this thesis were: 1) to determine if α5β1 signaling is required for osteoblast response to surface microstructure; 2) to determine if increased responsiveness to 1α,25(OH)2D3 requires the vitamin D receptor, 3) to determine if rough titanium surfaces functionalized with the peptides targeting integrins (RGD) and transmembrane proteoglycans (KRSR) will enhance both osteoblast proliferation and differentiation, and 4) to determine whether caveolae, which are associated with integrin and 1α,25(OH)2D3 signaling, are required for enhance osteogenic response to surface microstructure and 1α,25(OH)2D3.
The results demonstrate that integrins, VDR, and caveolae play important roles in mediating osteoblast response to surface properties and 1α,25(OH)2D3. Silencing of the β1 integrin in osteoblast-like MG63 cells significantly reduced osteogenic response to surface topography and 1α,25(OH)2D3. Silencing of the α5 subunit did not alter the response of MG63 cells to changing surface roughness or chemistry, although future work must confirm these results given similar cell surface α5 integrin expression observed in control and α5-silenced cells. Multifunctional RGD, KRSR, and KSSR coated surfaces show that RGD increased osteoblast proliferation and reduced differentiation, KRSR had no affect on osteoblast phenotype, and KSSR increased osteoblast differentiation. These results suggest that titanium surfaces can be modified to manipulate proliferation and differentiation and that RGD/KSSR functionalized surfaces could be further investigated for use as osteointegrative surfaces. The results using VDR deficient osteoblasts demonstrate that 1α,25(OH)2D3 acts via VDR-dependent mechanisms in cells cultured on titanium surfaces that support terminal differentiation. In caveolae deficient osteoblasts, 1α,25(OH)2D3 affected cell number, alkaline phosphatase activity, and TGF-β1 levels, although levels of osteocalcin and PGE2 were not affected. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that VDR is required for the actions of 1α,25(OH)2D3, but that caveolae-dependent membrane 1α,25(OH)2D3 signaling modulates traditional VDR signaling. The exact mechanisms for this interaction remain to be shown. Overall, these results are important in better understanding the role of β1 integrin partners in mediating osteoblast response to implant surfaces and in understanding how integrin signaling can alter osteoblast differentiation and responsiveness to 1α,25(OH)2D3 via genomic and non-genomic pathways.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:GATECH/oai:smartech.gatech.edu:1853/31711 |
| Date | 11 November 2009 |
| Creators | Bell, Bryan Frederick |
| Publisher | Georgia Institute of Technology |
| Source Sets | Georgia Tech Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Archive |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Dissertation |
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