In vitro study on cytocompatibility and osteogenesis ability of Ti–Cu alloy

Titanium implants easily suffer bacteria-related infections in clinic due to their inherent lack of self-protection ability. Therefore, a novel Ti–Cu alloy with good antibacterial activity has been developed as a new kind of implant material. This study focuses on a systematic evaluation of both cytocompatibility and osteogenesis activity of the Ti–Cu alloy in vitro. It was revealed that an addition of 5% Cu into pure Ti would not cause any negative effect on osteoblasts adhesion, proliferation and apoptosis cultured with Ti–Cu alloy. In addition, Ti–Cu alloy could significantly promote the osteogenic differentiation of MG 63 cells by upregulating the osteogenesis-related gene expressions including alkaline phosphatase (ALP), Collagen I (Colla I), osteopontin (OPN) and osteocalcin (OCN). These promising results suggest that the Ti–Cu alloy has great potential to be used as a multi-functional titanium implant for clinical applications.