Self - Aligned mesoporous titania nanotubes - Reduced graphene oxide hybrid surface: A potential scaffold for osteogenesis

Damaged or degenerative joints are treated with total joint replacement, however, despite many successful outcomes, significant problems such as implant loosening, and failure occur. These problems occur due to the inability of the implant to support bone cell attachment, delaying the cell-implant interaction affecting bone regeneration. Hence it is recommended to develop and modify implants to induce bone cell proliferation. Herein, we report a self-aligned titania nanotubes-reduced graphene oxide (TiNT-reduced GO) hybrid surface for growth and proliferation of human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells. The hybrid surface is characterised using electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy. The human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell proliferation was studied using standard MTT and fluorescence assays. TiNT-reduced GO hybrid surface, with TiO2 nanotube of diameter 80 -110 nm and length 500 μm with uniform deposition of reduced GO all over the surface, demonstrated about 50% increased cell growth compared to TiO2 nanotubes surface. The osteoinductive behaviour of TiNT-reduced GO is observed as these hybrid films support the proliferation of human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells, hence promising to be a potential implant material for bone regeneration.