Evaluation of gene expression in MG63 human osteoblastlike cells exposed to tantalum powder by microarray technology

Conventional orthopedic implants are composed from titanium. To improve some characteristics (ie, volumetric porosity, modulus of elasticity, frictional modulus), a new porous tantalum biomaterial has been developed and its biocompatibility reported. By using DNA microarrays containing 20,000 genes, several genes whose expression were significantly up- or down-regulated were identified in an osteoblastlike cell line (MG63) cultured with tantalum powder (TP). The differentially expressed genes cover a broad range of functional activities: signaling transduction; transcription; cell cycle regulation, proliferation, and apoptosis; and cytoskeleton formation. To the authors' knowledge, the data reported represent the first genetic portrait of TP.