In the past few years, Sr2+ has been described to play a fundamental role on the bone osteogenesis, as demonstrated by in vitro and in vivo studies. Therefore, the design of bioactive coatings containing Sr2+ is an interesting approach to modify metallic implants for bone regeneration. Herein, we described the development of bio-inspired systems to act as carriers of Sr2+ in biomaterials. In the first section, Ti surfaces were modified by hybrid films containing SrCO3 and or CaCO3. The formation of hybrid films was mediated by the deposition of Langmuir-Blodgett films on the Ti surfaces. Those matrices act as a template for the organized nucleation and growth of biominerals. By this methodology, continuous and homogeneous thin films were formed on the Ti surfaces. The biological response was accessed by in vitro osteoblasts culture. The hybrid films were nontoxic to the osteoblasts and we observed that the association of SrCO3 and CaCO3 resulted in a coating displaying a synergic composition and surface properties that induced better metabolic responses on the cultured osteoblasts. In the second section, we described the synthesis of a new Sr2+-morin complex. The structure of the complex was inspired by the strontium ranelate, one of the most used drugs for osteoporosis treatment. This way, we aimed to ally the antioxidant properties of morin, a natural flavonoid compound, and the osteogenic behavior of Sr2+ to design a new bioactive compound. The chemical structure of the complex was determined by spectroscopic techniques and we observed that the complexation happens at the stoichiometry 1:1. To design bioactive coatings on Ti surfaces, we also performed the complexation between the strontium and morin directly on Langmuir monolayers. By physicochemical characterization, we identified that multilayers containing the Sr2+-morin complex can be built on solid supports. These results show that Sr2+-morin can be a promising approach to design biofunctional coatings on metallic surfaces. In the last section, we described the creation of hierarchical collagen thin films, mimetizing the structure found on bone tissue. To this, solid supports were pulled out from collagen solution at a controlled rate. In this approach, the self-templating is mediated by competing forces (i.e. surface tension and friction) that act in the meniscus placed between the solution and the support. This process allows the deposition of self-aligned collagen fibers on surfaces. The film\'s structure was characterized and is dependent on pH, pulling rate, ionic and collagen concentration of the solution. In the future, these films will be applied to create mineralized functional coatings containing Sr2+. In conclusion, the materials developed herein has an important point in common: they are different matrices to carry Sr2+ ions. By the composition and surface characterization performed herein, we believe that these materials can be applied in the design of biofunctional coatings for metallic implant surfaces (AU) |
