Development of EGFP-Expressing Cell Line for Biocompatibility Evaluation of Osteoinductive CaP Ceramics

This study investigated the utility of genetically modified cell line for fast and non-destructive cytotoxicity evaluation of biomaterials. The EGFP(enhanced green fluorescence protein)-expressing plasmid pcDNA-EGFP was constructed, and electroporated into ROS 17/28 osteoblastic cells to generate an EGFP-labeled stable cell line, ROS-EGFP. This genetically modified cell line provided two unique opportunities to qualitative and semi-quantitative evaluation of cell growth on biomaterials without destruction of samples. Firstly, utilizing the fluorescence of EGFP expressed in the cells, the viability state of cells on biomaterials was evaluated using a fluorescent light microscope. Secondly, the proliferation of cells on biomaterials, which was identified by MTT assay，was demonstrated according to the microscopically counted fluorescent cell numbers. From the results, it could be concluded that the ROS-EGFP cell line was an effective tool to trace the fate of cells on biomaterials and to evaluate the biocompatibility of biomaterials to cell growth in vitro.