Cell proliferation, morphology and differentiation of transgenic-cloned pig calvarial osteoblasts on the silicon-substituted hydorxyapatite ceramics fabricated via ultrasonic spray-pyrolysis technique

Hydroxyapatite (HAp) is one of the most well known materials used as a bone graft. Silicon (Si) ions were incorporated into the HAp lattice to increase the bioactivity of HAp, because Si appears to be beneficial to bone and connective tissue health. In the present study, to investigate the influence of Si on proliferation, morphology and differentiation of calvarial osteoblasts derived from transgenic-cloned pig, silicon substituted-hydroxyapatite (Si-HAp) ceramics were fabricated. As a result, a significant increment of cell proliferation and well stretching of actin bundles were observed on all samples. These data revealed that incorporation of Si did not affect the cell attachment, proliferation and morephology. In addition, substitution of Si accelerated osteogenic differentiation including increase of ALP activity and expression levels of bone-related genes. The results of the present study suggest that supplementation of Si would prove to be effective on bone formation and helpful in preventing osteoporosis.