Bioactive glasses are used to regenerate bone by a mechanism which involves surface degradation, the release of ions such as calcium, soluble silica and phosphate and the precipitation of a biomimetic apatite surface layer on the glass. One major area of bioactive glass research is the incorporation of therapeutically active ions to broaden the application range of these materials. When developing such new compositions, in vitro cell culture studies are a key part of their characterisation. However, parameters of cell culture studies vary widely, and depending on the intended use of bioactive glass compositions, different layouts, cell types and assays need to be used. The aim of this publication is to provide materials scientists, particularly those new to cell culture studies, with a tool for selecting the most appropriate assays to give insight into the properties of interest.

Laboratory of Chemistry and Technology of Glasses Department of Glass and Ceramics University of Chemistry and Technology Technická 5 166 28 Prague 6 Czech Republic

Laboratory of Molecular Biology and Virology Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology University of Chemistry and Technology Technická 3 166 28 Prague 6 Czech Republic

Otto Schott Institute of Materials Research Faculty of Chemistry and Earth Sciences Friedrich Schiller University Jena Fraunhoferstr 6 07743 Jena Germany

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Test conditions can significantly affect the results of in vitro cytotoxicity testing of degradable metallic biomaterials