The Transplantation of osteoblasts, along with an artificial implant, is experimentally considered as a therapeutics for degenerative bone diseases. However, osteoblasts have several limitations for application of transplantation in therapeutics, including a low-efficiency for bone mineralization and easy loss of characteristics in in vitro culture condition. In this study, we fabricated silica nano-particle (SNP) films using particles of different sizes to culture osteoblast-like cells for analysis the effect of topography on cellular behavior and characteristics. The physical parameters of films, such as intervals, height and roughness, were proportionally increased depending on the SNP diameter. When osteoblast-like cells were cultured on the various SNP films, the cell attachment rate on SNP-300 and SNP-700 was significantly decreased when it compared to tissue culture polystyrene (TCPS) group. In addition, the genes responsible for cell adhesion showed differential expression profiles in SNP films. The expression and activity of alkaline phosphatase were elevated in SNP-300 and SNP-700, and the extra-cellular matrix and osteoblast marker showed increased gene expression in these SNP films when compared to TCPS group. In the present study, we demonstrate that the topographical property of a nano-scale structure preserves the characteristics of osteoblast-like cells, and regulates the cellular behavior. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.