Epithelial cell functionality on electroconductive Fe/Sr co-doped biphasic calcium phosphate

In the perspective of dental restorative applications, co-doped bioceramics have not been explored much. From the clinical perspective, a successful dental implant is expected to interact with peri-prosthetic bones, gingival tissue, and surrounding connective tissues. The interaction of implant and implant coating materials with bone tissue is well studied. However, their interaction with surrounding epithelial components needs scientific validation. In this context, the present study aims at quantitative evaluation of the electrical properties of Fe/Sr co-doped biphasic calcium phosphate (BCP) samples and assessment of their cytocompatibility with epithelial (vero) cells. Sr/Fe co-doped BCPs were prepared by sol-gel synthesis technique, with different dopant concentration. Impact of co-doping on conductivity was assessed and interestingly an increase in conductivity with dopant amount was recorded in different co-doped BCPs. Cellular study showed the significant (p = 0.01) increase in both cellular viability and functionality with increasing conductivity of samples. Higher epithelial cell adhesion indicates that (Sr/Fe) co-doped BCP would be favorable for faster epithelial sealing and also would reduce the chances of infection. Real-time PCR and immunofluorescence studies indicated that the expression of the epithelial marker (E-cadherin) significantly (p = 0.01) increased in 10, 30 and 40 mol% co-doped samples in comparison to undoped BCP. In contrast to E-cadherin, fold change of beta-catenin remains unchanged amongst the co-doped ceramics, implying the absence of tumorigenic potential of (Sr/Fe) co-doped BCP. In addition, immune-fluorescence signatures for cellular polarity are established from enhanced expression PARD3 protein, which has major relevance for cellular morphogenesis and cell division. Summarizing, the present study establishes the efficacy of Sr/Fe co-doped BCPs as a dental implant coating material and its ability to modulate vero cell functionality.