The determining role of nanoscale mechanical twinning on cellular functions of nanostructured materials

Considering that micromotions generated at the bone-implant interface under physiological loading introduce mechanical strain on the tissue and surface of the implant and that strain can be introduced during processing of the biomedical device, we elucidate here the interplay between mechanically-induced nanoscale twinning in austenitic stainless steel on osteoblast functions. Mechanically-induced nanoscale twinning significantly impacted cell attachment, cell-substrate interactions, proliferation, and subsequent synthesis of prominent proteins (fibronectin, actin, and vinculin). Twinning was beneficial in favorably modulating cellular activity and contributed to small differences in hydrophilicity and nanoscale roughness in relation to the untwinned surface.