화학공학소재연구정보센터
Advanced Materials, Vol.16, No.13, 1071-1071, 2004
Biomimetic coating of laminin-apatite composite on titanium metal and its excellent cell-adhesive properties
Titanium metal and its alloys are widely used as biomedical implant materials, since they exhibit good biocompatibility and superior mechanical properties.([1-3]) One important application of these metallic materials is in percutaneous implants, such as artificial tooth roots or skin terminals.([1]) Their bonding ability to epithelial tissue is not high enough, however, and the weak adhesion between an implant and its surrounding tissue leads to a deficient barrier against bacterial infection.([4-7]) For this reason, the development of titanium metal that has the ability to bond to epithelial tissue is strongly desired. Since teeth are natural skin-penetrating tissues, a tooth is believed to be a good model for an artificial percutaneous implant. Healthy natural teeth bond to their surrounding soft tissue through a strong adhesion to the epithelial cells that constitute the gingival epithelial tissue, and so prevent the invasion of bacteria.([4.5]) The biologically strong adhesion between a tooth and its surrounding epithelial tissue is attributed the cell-adhesive protein, laminin.([4]) Laminin is contained in the basement membranes and is believed to be a crucial molecule involved in the adhesion of epithelial cells to the surface of organ substrata, such as enamel.([8]) Therefore, it is expected that if laminin can be immobilized on the surface of titanium metal without any associated inactivation, then the surrounding epithelial tissue would strongly attach to the surface of the metal, analogous to natural teeth.