Surface roughness of CP-Ti, Ti6Al4V and sputtered Ti specimen after oxygen plasma treatment for different lengths of time, respectively.

<p>Star sign means significant difference (<i>p</i> < 0.05).</p

Water contact angles of CP-Ti and Ti6Al4V specimen treated by oxygen plasma.

<p>Water contact angles of CP-Ti and Ti6Al4V specimen treated by oxygen plasma.</p

Normalized XPS spectra of (a) CP-Ti, (b) Ti6Al4V and (c) sputtered Ti before and after oxygen plasma treatment for different lengths of time.

<p>Normalized XPS spectra of (a) CP-Ti, (b) Ti6Al4V and (c) sputtered Ti before and after oxygen plasma treatment for different lengths of time.</p

Topographic images with section analysis of sputtered Ti substrates: (a) untreated, (b) OPT for 5 minutes, (c) OPT for 10 minutes and (d) OPT for 30 minutes.

<p>Topographic images with section analysis of sputtered Ti substrates: (a) untreated, (b) OPT for 5 minutes, (c) OPT for 10 minutes and (d) OPT for 30 minutes.</p

Surface roughness of CP-Ti, Ti6Al4V and sputtered Ti specimen after oxygen plasma treatment for different lengths of time, respectively.

<p>Star sign means significant difference (<i>p</i> < 0.05).</p

The results of MTT assay of CP-Ti and Ti6Al4V.

<p>In CP-Ti groups, star sign means significant difference; as well as Ti6Al4V groups, different letter meant statistic different. (<i>p</i> < 0.05).</p

The F-actin immunofluorescence staining of MG-63 cell line cultured on CP-Ti and Ti6Al4V (200x).

<p>(a) is CP-Ti, and (b) is Ti6Al4V. The blue ovoid to round dots was the portion of cell nuclei. The cell shape of CP-Ti Control was polygonal, as well as spindle shape of other groups. All cells cultured on Ti6Al4V displayed spindle shape.</p

CQ induced HO-1 expression and its role in cytotoxicity, isoprostane, and PGE2 production of pulp cells.

<p><b>(A)</b> Stimulation of HO-1 mRNA expression by CQ in dental pulp cells. <b>(B)</b> Stimulation of HO-1 protein expression by CQ in dental pulp cells. <b>(C)</b> Effect of ZnPP on CQ-induced cytotoxicity, <b>(D)</b> Effect of ZnPP on CQ-induced PGE₂ production of pulp cells. *denotes the presence of statistically significant difference when compared with control. #denotes a statistically significant difference when compared with CQ solely group (p<0.05).</p

Effect of CQ on cellular oxidative stress of dental pulp cells.

<p><b>(A)</b> One representative DCF flow cytometry profiles of pulp cells was shown. Human dental pulp cells were exposed to CQ for 3 hours. In each plot, there were 2 populations of cells, M1 and M2, with different intracellular DCF content. The mean fluorescence of cells in M2 population represented the DCF fluorescence of that group. <b>(B)</b> Quantitative histogram of DCF assay (n = 5, Mean±SE, *denotes a statistically significant difference when compared with solvent-treated control (p<0.05), <b>(C)</b> Stimulation of 8-isoprostane production of pulp cells by CQ. *denotes statistically significant difference when compared with control.</p

Role of MEK/ERK signaling on CQ-induced cytotoxicity, COX-2 expression and PGE₂ production of pulp cells.

<p><b>(A)</b> Stimulation of ERK1/ERK2 phosphorylation by CQ, <b>(B)</b> Effect of U0126 on CQ-induced cytotoxicity of pulp cells, <b>(C)</b> Effect of U0126 on CQ-induced COX-2 protein expression of pulp cells. One representative western blotting result was shown. <b>(D)</b> Effect of U0126 on CQ-induced PGE₂ production of pulp cells. Results were expressed as Mean±SE, *denotes a statistically significant difference when compared with solvent-treated control. #denotes a statistically significant difference when compared with CQ solely group (p<0.05).</p