Effects of altering the Si/Ca molar ratio of a calcium silicate cement on in vitro cell attachment

Aim To examine the effects of altering the Si/Ca molar ratio (6:4, 5:5, and 4:6) of a quick-setting calcium silicate cement on in vitro cell attachment. Methodology Working time and setting time of three different calcium silicate cements were measured. Alamar Blue was used for real-time and repeated monitoring of cell attachment and proliferation. The Si and Ca ion concentrations of the cell culture medium in the presence of three different calcium silicate cements seeded with MG63 cells were measured. Kinetic immunofluorescent staining of MG63 cells was performed during cell attachment and spreading. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction was employed to determine gene expression in MG63 cells cultured on the cements. One-way analysis of variance was used to evaluate the significance of the differences between the mean values. Results The working time (4-7min) and setting time (17-24min) of the cements were shortened with an increase in the Ca content of the calcium silicate powders after mixing the powder with water. In contrast, the higher the Si content in the cement, the more the MG63 cells attached to the cement at all culture time-points, accompanying by the formation of more obvious actin stress fibres. Cell proliferation and differentiation increased significantly (P<0.05) with an increase in the Si content of the calcium silicate cements. Si ion concentration of the culture medium increased significantly (P<0.05) with increasing cement Si content and culture time-points. Conclusions The higher Si content cement enhanced the higher expression of cell attachment, proliferation and differentiation as compared to the lower Si content cement.