Intrinsically superparamagnetic Fe-hydroxyapatite nanoparticles positively influence osteoblast-like cell behaviour

Results: MNPs were obtained by doping hydroxyapatite (HA) with Fe ions, by directly substituting Fe2+ and Fe3+ into the HA structure yielding superparamagnetic bioactive phase. In the current study, we have investigated the effects of increasing concentrations (2000 mu g/ml; 1000 mu g/ml; 500 mu g/ml; 200 mu g/ml) of FeHA MNPs in vitro using Saos-2 human osteoblast-like cells cultured for 1, 3 and 7 days with and without the exposure to a static magnetic field of 320 mT. Results demonstrated not only a comparable osteoblast viability and morphology, but increased in cell proliferation, when compared to a commercially available Ha nanoparticles, even with the highest dose used. Furthermore, FeHA MNPs exposure to the static magnetic field resulted in a significant increase in cell proliferation throughout the experimental period, and higher osteoblast activity.