Bio-compatibility of inorganic nanofiber (imogolite) using animal cell culture.

Abstract

Inorganic nanotube, Imogolite has the following functions, high surface area, adsorption and ionic exchange. Therefore imogolite is very attractive for the application to the materials of heat pump, humidistat and so on. However, as imogolite has fibrous structure, we need to check its bio-compatibility in vitro and in vivo before using imogolite as functional materials. Here we describe the biological safety of imogolite with cultured animal cell (osteoblast-like cell MC3T3-E1). From the results of several biological tests for cell proliferation and differentiation, imogolite showed very safety fibrous materials and improved cell functions.