The Influence of Hyaluronic Acid Biofunctionalization of a Bovine Bone Substitute on Osteoblast Activity In Vitro

Bovine bone substitute materials (BSMs) are used for oral bone regeneration. The objective was to analyze the influence of BSM biofunctionalization via hyaluronic acid (HA) on human osteoblasts (HOBs). BSMs with ± HA were incubated with HOBs including HOBs alone as a negative control. On days 3, 7 and 10, cell viability, migration and proliferation were analyzed by fluorescence staining, scratch wound assay and MTT assay. On days 3, 7 and 10, an increased cell viability was demonstrated for BSM+ compared with BSM− and the control (each p ≤ 0.05). The cell migration was enhanced for BSM+ compared with BSM− and the control after day 3 and day 7 (each p ≤ 0.05). At day 10, an accelerated wound closure was found for the control compared with BSM+/− (each p < 0.05). The highest proliferation rate was observed for BSM+ on day 3 (p ≤ 0.05) followed by BSM− and the control (each p ≤ 0.05). At day 7, a non-significantly increased proliferation was shown for BSM+ while the control was higher than BSM− (each p < 0.05). The least proliferation activity was observed for BSM− (p < 0.05) at day 10. HA biofunctionalization of the BSMs caused an increased HOB activity and might represent a promising alternative to BSM− in oral bone regeneration.