Nano Biomedicine
ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Effect of Silicon Nitride Coating on Titanium Surface on the Expression Levels of Early Hard Tissue Differentiation-Induced Genes

Satoshi KOMASA1, Hideaki SATO2, Shiki HO3, Yuqing HUANG3, Yishen XIE3, Kanae UNOKI1, Akiko MIYAKE3, Masataka ITODA1, and Yoshiya HASHIMOTO4


1Department of Oral Health Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences,
Osaka Dental University, Osaka, Japan
2Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Science and Engineering,
Tokyo City University, Tokyo, Japan
3Department of Oral Health Engineering, Faculty of Health Sciences,
4Department of Biomaterials, School of Dentistry,
Osaka Dental University, Osaka, Japan
Nano Biomed 2025; 17(2): 57-64, (Dec 30, Nano Biomedicine)
Synopsis
Pure titanium disks were fabricated and coated with silicon nitride using plasma chemical vapor deposition. Surface characterization was performed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Rat bone marrow cells (RBMCs) were cultured on the titanium disks, and the expression levels of osteogenesis-related genes, including alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and osterix (OSX), were analyzed using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). SEM analysis confirmed the presence of crystalline layers on the silicon nitride-coated titanium surfaces, and XPS analysis detected silicon, nitrogen, oxygen, and carbon molecules on the coated surfaces. RBMCs cultured on the silicon nitride-coated titanium surfaces exhibited higher expression levels of ALP and OSX compared to those cultured on uncoated titanium surfaces. These findings suggest that silicon nitride coating on titanium surfaces promotes the induction of early hard tissue differentiation in RBMCs at the genetic level. Further research is necessary to evaluate the potential clinical applications of this material in dental implants.

Key words silicon nitride; implant; bone marrow cells; PCR analysis
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DOI: 10.11344/nano.17.57

Komasa S, Sato H, Ho S, Huang Y, Xie Y, Unoki K, Miyake A, Itoda M, Hashimoto Y. Effect of silicon nitride coating on titanium surface on the expression levels of early hard tissue differentiation-induced genes. Nano Biomed 2025; 17: 57-64,