Cellular Attachment and Activity of Osteoblasts on Coral Scaffold

Presence of active and functioning osteoblast cells are crucial for coral scaffold to be suitable for specific tissue engineering purpose.Objective: To study the attachment and activity of the osteoblast-like cells differentiated from mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) seeded onto coral scaffold.Methods: MSCs were isolated from bone marrow aspirates and expanded. The MSCs were induced to differentiate into osteoblast-like cells by adding osteogenic supplement and 10% FBS in á-MEM. Von Kossa staining was used to assess the morphology of the osteoblast-like cells. The osteoblast-like cells were then seeded onto coral discs. After 1 week the specimens were examined under scanning electron microscope (SEM) to assess the cellular attachment. Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) assay and calcium assay were carried out every 3 days for 21 days to see the level of cellular activity of the osteoblasts before and after seeding onto the coral discs. All of the experiments were carried out in triplicates and repeated 3 times. The assay results were analyzed by using one-way ANOVA, linear regression and paired t-test.Results: It was found that the osteoblast-like cells were able to attach well to the coral material as demonstrated by adhesive plagues at the bottom of the cells, lamellipodia and filapodia tightly adherent to the surface of the material. The seeded osteoblast-like cells were viable and functioning with increased levels of ALP and calcium. There was significant increase in ALP levels between the various periods of measurement as well as pre- and post-seeding (p<0.05). Calcium was detected but there was no significant difference detected during period of study.Conclusions: Coral material is a favourable medium for attachment of osteoblast-like cells with viable cellular activity. Coral scaffold may be well suited for the development of tissue-engineered bone transplant material.