Adhesion of Cells, Viruses and Nanoparticles

"Adhesion of Cells, Viruses and Nanoparticles" describes the adhesion of cells, viruses and nanoparticles starting from the basic principles of adhesion science, familiar to postgraduates, and leading on to recent research results. The underlying theory is that of van der Waals forces acting between cells and substrates, embodied in the molecules lying at the surfaces, together with the geometry and elasticity of the materials involved. The first part describes the fundamental background to adhesion principles, including the phenomenology, the important equations and the modeling ideas. Then the mechanisms of adhesion are explored in the second part, including the elastic deformations of spheres and the importance of the energy of adhesion as measured in various tests. It is demonstrated that adhesion of cells is statistical and depends on Brownian movement and on the complex multiple contacts that can form as cells move around. Then, detailed chapters on cell adhesion, contact of viruses and aggregation of nanoparticles follow in Part 3. Finally, the last chapter looks to the future understanding of cell adhesion and points out some interesting directions of research, development and treatment of diseases related to these phenomena. This book is an ideal resource for researchers on adhesion molecules, receptors, cell and tissue culturing, virus infection, toxicity of nanoparticles and bioreactor fouling. It can also be used to support undergraduate and Masters level teaching courses. "This is a fascinating book and it is an invaluable resource for understanding particle-particle/surface adhesion at micro- and nano- scales. I intend to keep one for my future reference and highly recommend it to my students." (Prof. Zhibing Zhang, School of Chemical Engineering, University of Birmingham, UK).