2004 Volume 45 Issue 4 Pages 201-211
The purpose of this study was to investigate the behavior of rat bone marrow cells (RBM) growing on surfaces with different pore sizes. RBM behavior on Millipore filters (MF-MilliporeTM membrane filter) made from cellulose mixed esters with 5 different pore surfaces (0.45μm, 1.2μm, 3.0μm, 5.0μm and 8.0μm) were compared in terms of morphological changes on the different pore sizes. Furthermore, the expressions of osteopontin and osteocalcin mRNAs were investigated. On the 1.2μm and 3.0μm pore surfaces, RBM attached to the substrate well, but cells on the 5.0μm and 8.0μm pore surfaces invaded deeply into the pores. Higher levels of both osteopontin and osteocalcin mRNA expression were always observed in cells cultured on the 1.2μm filter. These results suggest that the 1.2μm Millipore filter pore size is the most suitable for inducing RBM to differentiate into an osteoblastic phenotype among these surfaces and is probably related to production of the ECM but not to the phenomenon of cell spreading.
