Transparent nano hydroxyapatite coated platform for bone cell imaging

Abstract

Hydroxyapatite is an essential inorganic component of bone tissue which is important for bone cell biology. In laboratory, bone cells are routinely cultured on glass or plastic plates with lacking HA. Some commercial plates coated with HA are now available for investigating osteoclast bone resorption. However, the opaque nature of these plates limits further application to investigating bone cell biology. It is impossible to observe real-time interactions between hydroxyapatite and bone cells under microscope. In this study, glasses with HA nano-coating were prepared by the hydrothermal process. This nano-coating platform (HCP) offers a stage to image real-time interactions between hydroxyapatite and bone cells directly. The ease of fabrication and the repeatability of this platform approach could open a host of biomedical imaging applications in bone biology research as well as bone drug development. Different osteocytes were used to detect the biocompatibility and imaging advantages of the platform. The results showed that the platform could simulate the native bone environment and reflect the state of the bone cells accurately.