Increased osteoblast adhesion on physically optimized KRSR modified calcium aluminate

Calcium aluminate (CA) is a porous biocompatible material easily cast at room temperature. Through this casting process, the average surface pore size of CA was varied from an average of 100 to 290 microns. The optimal surface pore size of the hydrated CA for cell viability was determined to be 100 microns. Further, a three step‐solution deposition technique was developed to covalently immobilize cell adhesion peptides, RGD, and KRSR to the CA surface. Cell adhesion for 1‐, 4‐, and 7‐day time periods was tested with primary osteoblasts and NIH 3T3 fibroblasts. Both peptides were found to increase fibroblast adhesion to the CA surface. However, only KRSR increased osteoblast adhesion to the surface of the CA, which may aid in bone formation after implantation. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A:, 2012.