Biochemical Studies of the Potential Anti-Tumor Activity of Novel Chelate-Setting Apatite Cements

Abstract

The anti-tumor activity of hydroxyapatite (HAp) cements, which had been developed using a novel setting mechanism termed chelate bonding, against the human osteosarcoma cell line (HOS) and rat bone marrow stromal cells (BMSC) was examined. We aimed to understand the mechanism of the anti-tumor activity of the cement, thereby facilitating improvement of its biological activity. HAp powders were surface-modified with three different concentrations of inositol hexaphosphate (IP6), which were then used to fabricate three different IP6-HAp cements. The amount of IP6 that was bound to the HAp powder, and the amount that was released from the HAp cement, was measured for each sample. Approximately 1/200 to 1/1600 of the bound IP6 was released into the culture medium by day 4. Surface-modification of HAp with high concentration of IP6 inhibits the proliferation of both HOS cells and BMSCs, and appears to induce their apoptotic cell death. HOS cells were slightly more sensitive to IP6 than BMSCs. Thus, novel, chelate-bonded HAp cements are a candidate bone substitution material that exhibit anti-tumor activity.