Bioactive Glass 45S5 Powders: Effect of Synthesis Route and Resultant Surface Chemistry and Crystallinity on Protein Adsorption from Human Plasma Open Access

Despite its medical applications, the mechanisms responsible for the osseointegration of bioactive glass (45S5) have yet to be fully understood. Evidence suggests that the strongest predictor for osseointegration of bioactive glasses, and ceramics, with bone tissue as the formation of an apatitic calcium phosphate layer atop the implanted material, with osteoblasts being the main mediator for new bone formation. Most have tried to understand the formation of this apatitic calcium phosphate layer, and other bioresponses between the host and bioactive glass 45S5 using Simulated Body Fluid; a solution containing ion concentrations similar to that found in human plasma without the presence of proteins. However, it is likely that cell attachment is probably largely mediated via the adsorbed protein layer. Plasma protein adsorption at the tissue bioactive glass interface has been largely overlooked. Herein, we compare crystalline and amorphous bioactive glass 45S5, in both melt-derived as well as sol–gel forms. Thus, allowing for a detailed understanding of both the role of crystallinity and powder morphology on surface ions, and plasma protein adsorption. It was found that sol–gel 45S5 powders, regardless of crystallinity, adsorbed 3–5 times as much protein as the crystalline melt-derived counterpart, as well as a greater variety of plasma proteins. The devitrification of melt-cast 45S5 resulted in only small differences in the amount and variety of the adsorbed proteome. Surface properties, and not material crystallinity, play a role in directing protein adsorption phenomena for bioactive glasses given the differences found between crystalline melt-cast 45S5 and sol–gel derived 45S5.