Research Article: Antibacterial and osteogenic stem cell differentiation properties of photoinduced TiO2 nanoparticle-decorated TiO2 nanotubes

An overarching theme of the Nanomedicine Special Focus Issue on ‘Engineering the nanoenvironment for regenerative medicine’ is the regulation of cellular function through nanotopographical modification. In this article, Liu et al. present research on the fabrication of titania nanotubes anodized into titanium and how these may be employed to improve the materials antibacterial and cell compatibility properties. Specifically the authors show that these surfaces induce significant downregulations in glycosytransferase genes in Streptococcus mutans populations and improved osteogenic functions in human stem cells, noting that this may provide a powerful methodology to improve orthopedic and dental implant efficacy. Aim: To improve...