Attachment of Fibronectin with Titanium by Tresyl Chloride Activation Method: Chemical and Cell Analysis

Abstract

Introduction: Basic terminal hydroxyl groups of a pure titanium surface react with tresyl chloride, which allows for further coupling with fibronectin.[1] Previous in vivo studies using a rabbit femur model found that immobilizing fibronectin onto cylindrical pure titanium implants enhanced bone regeneration around implants.[2] However, pure titanium has limited applications in the biomedical industry due to its inferior mechanical and biological properties, compared to biomedical grade titanium alloys, such as Ti-6Al-4V (the most commonly used titanium alloy in medical devices [3]). To date, no study has evaluated the attachment of fibronectin on Ti-6Al-4V (referred simply as Ti) by the tresyl chloride activation method. Thus, we examined whether human plasma FN can be attached to Ti-6Al-4V via the tresyl chloride activation method and evaluate the effect of the attachment on osteoblast cell adhesion and proliferation.