title: Quantitative Particle-Cell Interaction: Some Basic Physicochemical Pitfalls.
abstract: There are numerous reports about particle-cell interaction studies in the literature. Many of those are performed in two-dimensional cell cultures. While the interpretation of such studies seems trivial at first sight, in fact for quantitative analysis some basic physical and physicochemical bases need to be considered. This starts with the dispersion of the particles, for which gravity, Brownian motion, and interparticle interactions need to be considered. The respective strength of these interactions determines whether the particles will sediment, are dispersed, or are agglomerated. This in turn largely influences their interaction with cells. While in the case of well-dispersed particles only a fraction of them will come into contact with cells in a two-dimensional culture, (agglomeration-induced) sedimentation drives the particles toward the cell surface, resulting in enhanced uptake.
authors.affiliation: Fachbereich Physik, Philipps Universität Marburg , Marburg, Germany.|Department of Laboratory Medicine (LABMED), Karolinska Institutet , Stockholm, Sweden.|Medcom Advance S.A., Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Neus
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Feliu
authors.affiliation: Fachbereich Physik, Philipps Universität Marburg , Marburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Xing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Química Física e Inorgánica and Emas, Universitat Rovira i Virgili , Tarragona, Spain.|ICREA, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Ramon A
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-4770-5756
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Alvarez Puebla
authors.affiliation: Fachbereich Physik, Philipps Universität Marburg , Marburg, Germany.|Institute of Nano Biomedicine and Engineering, Key Laboratory for Thin Film and Microfabrication Technology of the Ministry of Education, Department of Instrument Science and Engineering, School of Electronic Information and Electrical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University , Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Wolfgang J
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-1672-6650
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Parak
mesh_terms: D002450:Cell Communication; D010316:Particle Size