Mechanisms of cell adhesion and extracellular matrix formation are primary processes in the interaction with the biomaterial. We investigated whether the surface topography of titanium influences the cell-extracellular matrix interaction of human osteoblasts in comparison with V2A stainless steel. Corundum blasted titanium as the roughest surface inhibited the formation of fibrillar adhesions of beta1, led to clustered vinculin contacts, and to their impaired motility, and affected the organization and the alignment of the actin cytoskeleton as well as of secreted fibronectin. These effects of surface topography of pure titanium on human osteoblasts were comparable with the influence of stainless steel although the R-a value is distinctly (43 times) lower. We conclude that cell-extracellular matrix interactions were controlled by the surface topography of titanium which has the same influence comparable to chemical components of V2A stainless steel. We suggest that local differences in cell signaling maintain the cell physiology.