[2] Measurement of surface properties of phagocytes, bacteria, and other particles

Publisher Summary This chapter describes the strategies that have evolved for measuring cellular surface tensions. It focuses on techniques that are limited to those methods which are applicable to the cellular elements involved in phagocytosis. The surface need not consist of one component but can consist of several components. If these components are uniformly distributed, the surface can be considered homogeneous. In cases where the phase under consideration borders on a second phase, the surface tension for that interface, called the “interfacial tension,” is determined by the nature of these phases. Moreover, as the value of the interfacial tension of—for example, solids—depends on the phase with which the solid is in contact, some reference state must be chosen to be able to compare the surface properties of these solids. However, phagocytic cells and bacteria are usually in an aqueous medium and bringing them to the reference state may cause changes in the structure and the properties of the membrane or the conformation of the protein molecules.