Surface interactions of leukemia and red cells passively moving in a quiescent fluid

Abstract

Adhesion to glass and silicone-coated surface of leukemia cells (L1210 and L5222) and their motion on an inclined plane have been investigated. The cells in quiescent fluid are subjected to the action of gravitational force: its component parallel to the surface ranges from 4.0 × 10⁻¹⁴ N to 4.5 × 10⁻¹³ N. The prolonged action of the gravitational force at 45° (3.3 × 10⁻¹³ N) causes the separation from the substratum of numerous cells which have adhered on a horizontal plane. When the cells passively move on the slope they are frequently arrested by adhesion which is partly short-lived. The analysis of the leukemia cell velocity reveals good agreement with the theory describing the motion of a sphere in quiescent fluid. The translation movement of nucleated cells on an inclined plane is not, however, accompanied by rotation. On the other hand, the cells flowing in mid-stream rotate with an angular velocity predicted by the theory.