Affiliations: Department of Chemistry, Texas Christian University,
Ft. Worth, TX 761290, USA | Department of Bioengineering Boston University,
Boston, MA 02215, USA
Note: [] Adrress for correspondence: Tejal A. Desai, Ph.D., Associate
Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, 44
Cummington Street, Boston, MA 02215, USA. Tel.: +1 617 358 3054; Fax: +1 617
353 6766; E-mail: tdesai@bu.edu
Abstract: The growth of known biologically-relevant mineral phases on
semiconducting surfaces is one strategy to explicitly induce bioactivity in
such materials, either for sensing or drug delivery applications. In this work,
we describe the use of a spark ablation process to fabricate deliberate
patterns of
Ca_{10}(PO_4)_6(OH)_2on
crystalline Si (calcified nanoporous silicon). These patterns have been
principally characterized by scanning electron microscopy in conjunction with
elemental characterization by energy dispersive x-ray analysis. This is
followed by a detailed comparison of the effects of fibroblast adhesion and
proliferation onto calcified nanoporous Si, calcified nanoporous Si derivatized
with alendronate, as well as control samples of an identical surface area
containing porous SiO_2. Fibroblast adhesion and
proliferation assays demonstrate that a higher density of cells grow on the
Ca_3(PO_4)_2 /porous
Si/ SiO_2 structures relative to the alendronate-modified surfaces and porous
Si/SiO_2 samples.
