Control of Cellular Arrangement by Surface Topography Induced by Plastic Deformation

The anisotropic microstructure of bone tissue is crucial for appropriate mechanical and biological functions of bone. We recently revealed that the construction of oriented bone matrix is established by osteoblast alignment; there is a quite unique correlation between cell alignment and cell-produced bone matrix orientation governed by the molecular interactions between material surface and cells. Titanium and its alloys are one of the most attractive materials for biomedical applications. We previously succeeded in controlling cellular arrangement using the dislocations of a crystallographic slip system in titanium single crystals with hexagonal close-packing (hcp) crystal lattice. Here, we induced a specific surface topography by deformation twinning and dislocation motion to control cell orientation. Dislocation and deformation twinning were introduced into α-titanium polycrystals in compression, inducing a characteristic surface structure involving nanometer-scale highly concentrated twinning traces. The plastic deformation-induced surface topography strongly influenced osteoblast orientation, causing them to align preferentially along the slip and twinning traces. This surface morphology, exhibiting a characteristic grating structure, controlled the localization of focal adhesions and subsequent elongation of stress fibers in osteoblasts. These results indicate that cellular responses against dislocation and deformation twinning are useful for controlling osteoblast alignment and the resulting bone matrix anisotropy.