Acta of Bioengineering and Biomechanics Vol. 5, No. 1, 2003 Strategy to enhance the osseointegration process: synthetic peptides improving osteoblast adhesion on implant surface A. BAGNO, M. DETTIN, R. GAMBARETTO, L. TONIN, C. DI BELLO Department of Chemical Process Engineering, University of Padova, via Marzolo 9, 35131 Padova, Italy In order to improve the integration process between surgically placed implants and biological tissues, biomaterials of the next generation have to be designed to enhance and support osteoblast adhesion. In fact, it has been demonstrated that the quality of the early cell/material interactions is highly responsible for the long-term functional response of implants. Polystyrene surfaces have been conditioned with different synthetic peptides and their abilities to promote osteoblast adhesion have been compared. The results obtained applying the best-performing peptides in osteoblast adhesion assays on acellular bone matrix are herewith discussed. Key words: osseointegration, osteoblast adhesion, metallic implant, synthetic peprides 1. Introduction Recent studies in oral implantology allowed the statement that a clinical success of implanted devices mainly relies upon osseointegration, which has to be considered as both anatomical congruency and load-bearing capacity [1]. In order to evaluate the performances of implanted materials and the development of more effective devices, we have to elucidate the mechanisms of interactions between tissues and biomaterials [2], [3]. In particular, the response of biological tissues due to the characteristics of implant surface (e.g., chemical composition and micro- and macrotopography) is under continuous investigation [4]–[7]. Moreover, exploitation of a wide range of macromolecules in the native extracellular matrix (ECM) of the tissue and on the cell membrane, or both, allows us to promote a sequence of phenomena (i.e., adhesion, migration, proliferation and differentiation of cells) [6], [8]: in fact, cell–cell and cell– surface interaction and adhesion processes are both mediated by cell membrane receptors, which are responsible for reversible, non-covalent binding to complementary ligand proteins [9].