Abstract
Groove patterns on the surface of implants act as an effective barrier to the apical migration of epithelial attachment, after which the grooves facilitate gingival fibroblast attachment. Cell alignment on grooves is largely influenced by the adsorbed protein type. However, cell attachment and cell alignment properties of micro/nano-grooved dental composite resins using osteoblasts and fibroblasts have not been investigated. Further, the effect of saliva-related protein adsorption has not investigated. In this study, we prepared composite resins with grooves that were 2 μm, 1 μm, and 500 nm wide and estimated the effect of pre-coating of some proteins, mainly mucin, on attachment and alignment of human gingival fibroblasts(HGF). In the cell attachment assay on mucin-coated grooves, the number of attached cells on mucin-coated planar or grooved composite resins was lower compared to that on both composite resins without pre-coating of mucin. Interestingly, the number of attached cells on grooves pre-coated with mucin was 5.7-fold higher than those on planar pre-coated with mucin. Grooves at the micro/nano level may act as a hook for floating cells during the cell attachment assay. Furthermore, the degree of cell alignment was strongly dependent on the pre-coating protein types. The cells were radially spread or round-shaped, but not have sufficient alignment on non-, mucin-, and albumin-coated grooves. Although the cells were attached on the grooves, they were not aligned along the direction of grooves. The cells on fetal bovine serum- or fibronectin-coated grooves exhibited good alignment in the groove direction, particularly on fibronectin-coated grooves. Thus, our patterning method creates an effective seal between soft tissue and dental materials to protect against microorganism invasion. [DOI: 10.1380/ejssnt.2016.225]
