Abstract
There is a demand for novel bioactive supports in surgery, orthopedics, and tissue engineering. The availability of recombinant silica‐synthesizing enzyme (silicatein) opens new possibilities for the synthesis of silica‐containing bioactive surfaces under ambient conditions that do not damage biomolecules like proteins. Here it is shown that growth of human osteosarcoma SaOS‐2 cells on cluster plates precoated with Type 1 collagen is not affected by additional coating of the plates with the recombinant silicatein and incubation with its enzymatic substrate, tetraethoxysilane (TEOS). However, the enzymatic modification of the plates by biosilica deposition on the protein‐coated surface caused a marked increase in calcium phosphate formation of SaOS‐2 cells as revealed by alizarin red‐S staining to quantify calcium mineral content. The increased occurrence of calcium‐phosphate nodules on the modified surface was also observed by scanning electron microscopy. These results suggest that by supporting calcium‐phosphate deposition in vitro, biosilica (silicatein)‐modified surfaces are potentially bioactive in vivo, by stimulating osteoblast mineralization function. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 2005