Flow chamber analysis of size effects in the adhesion of spherical particles.
The non-specific adhesion of spherical micro- and nano-particles to a cell substrate is investigated in a parallel plate flow chamber. Differently from prior in-vitro analyses, the total volume of the particles injected into the flow chamber is kept fixed whilst the particle diameter is changed in the range 0.5-10 microm. It is shown that: (i) the absolute number of particles adherent to the cell layer per unit surface decreases with the size of the particle as d(-1.7); (ii) the volume of the particles adherent per unit surface increases with the size of the particles as d(+1.3). From these results and considering solely non-specific particles, the following hypothesis are generated (i) use the smallest possible particles in biomedical imaging and (ii) use the largest possible particles in drug delivery.
Decuzzi
P
P
Center of Bio-/Nanotechnology and -/Engineering for Medicine University of Magna Graecia at Catanzaro,Viale Europa - Loc. Germaneto, Catanzaro, Italy. p.decuzzi@poliba.it
Gentile
F
F
Granaldi
A
A
Curcio
A
A
Causa
F
F
Indolfi
C
C
Netti
P
P
Ferrari
M
M
D000268:Adhesiveness; D002448:Cell Adhesion / Q000502:physiology*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003198:Computer Simulation; D042783:Endothelial Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D017022:Flow Injection Analysis / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008863:Microspheres; D008954:Models, Biological; D010316:Particle Size; D033081:Shear Strength