Multimolecular adsorption on cell surfaces under the influence of van der Waals forces

Abstract

Conditions under which adsorbed coats (“fuzz”) will form on a cell surface are developed in terms of Lifshitz theory of intermolecular forces. The conditions under which a close substrate, foreign body or neighbouring cell will cause dissolution or build-up of the adsorbed layer, or formation of a “tight junction” or “cell glue” are given. The notion of a static membrane and coat of fixed thickness is shown to be untenable in general.