Testing biomaterials by the in-situ evaluation of cell response

In this work, we describe a technique for the in-situ observation of cells adhered on opaque biomaterial surfaces. The visualisation of the morphology of cells adhered onto a surface allows to derive nuclear apoptotic signs or even the existence of organisation between groups of these cells. The technique is based on the use of an auto-immune reaction combined with a fluorescent agent that allows a direct inspection of the cell behaviour. The versatility of the technique is demonstrated by presenting several examples with different cultured cells (human chondrosarcome cells (CSRCs) and pluripotential mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) from bone marrow) seeded over two different Ti-based surfaces (TiO2 and TiN, respectively). These in-vitro observations are compared with the behaviour of the same cells on bare TiAlV alloy. From our results it is concluded that both TiO2 and TiN surfaces show enhanced biological responses. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.