Establishment of Biomimetic Soft Tissue Integration with the Surface of Zirconia Fused with Platelet-Activating Peptide

Chia-Yu Chen; Wonwoo Jang; David M Kim; Masazumi Nagai; Shigemi Nagai

doi:10.3390/ma15134597

Establishment of Biomimetic Soft Tissue Integration with the Surface of Zirconia Fused with Platelet-Activating Peptide

Materials (Basel). 2022 Jun 30;15(13):4597. doi: 10.3390/ma15134597.

Authors

Chia-Yu Chen¹, Wonwoo Jang¹, David M Kim¹, Masazumi Nagai¹, Shigemi Nagai¹

Affiliation

¹ Department of Oral Medicine, Immunity and Infection, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, 188 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA.

Abstract

Soft tissue sealing around zirconia (ZrO₂) abutment is critical for the long-term stability of dental implants. The goal of the study is to develop a strong basal lamina (BL)-mediated epithelial attachment to ZrO₂ via a novel physicochemical immobilization method. An electrophoretic fusion (EPF) method was applied to fuse a phosphonic acid (PA) linker to ZrO₂ discs. Bindings of the PA linker and the following protease activated receptor 4 (PAR4) were verified by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FITR). Then, ZrO₂ discs were doped in platelet-rich plasma (PRP). Platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) was measured to assess platelet activation. PRP-doped discs were subsequently co-cultured with human gingival epithelial cells (OBA9) to evaluate establishment of basal lamina-mediated epithelial attachment. The EPF method achieved robust immobilization of the PA linker and PAR4 onto the ZrO₂ surface. The resultant PAR4-coupled ZrO₂ successfully induced platelet aggregation and activation. Furthermore, a BL-mediated epithelial attachment was established. The results are significant for clinical application to minimize the risk of developing peri-implant diseases.

Keywords: epithelial attachment; implant surface; soft tissue sealing; zirconia.

Grants and funding

This work was performed in part at the Center for Na-noscale System (CNS), a member of the National Nano-technology Coordinated Infrastructure Network (NNCI), which is supported by the National Science Foundation under NSF award no. 1541959. CNS is part of Harvard University.