In vitro biocompatibility of ZrO2 vs Y-TZP alloys on Saos-2 cells: influence of composition and surface topography

This study assess the biocompatibility of ZrO2 vs Y-TZP alloys on Saos-2 cells, through the combination of conventional toxicological assay, morphological observations and transcriptomic analysis performed on Saos-2 cells. The biocompatibility of ZrO2 alloys was evaluated in comparison with Y-TZP alloys, studying cell proliferation (WST-1) and cell morphology/adhesion (SEM) on human Saos-2 cell lines. Finally, an evaluation of gene expression was performed on Y-TZP alloys rough surface that seems more interesting regarding biocompatibility results. Changes in gene expression in Saos-2 cells (30 000 cells/mL, total of 180 000 cells for each experiment) incubated without (control) or with yttria zirconia discs with rough (Ra=1 µm) surface states for 96h, were measured. Four biological replicates were performed as controls : T1 ; T2 ; T3 ; T4. Four biological replicates were performed in Saos-2 cells exposed to Y-TZP rough surface discs : E1 ; E2 ; E3 ; E4. A total of 8 samples (microarrays) was used.