Summary
The low radio frequency dielectric constant of aqueous solutions of glycine, diglycine,d-sorbitol, Dextran and Ficoll were determined. These values were used to predict the dielectric constant of Hanks-199 tissue culture medium to which various concentrations of these compounds had been added. Single cell dispersions of two chick embryonic tissues, 7-day neural retina and 5-day limb bub, were prepared in tissue culture media of varying dielectric constant. Selected cell dispersions were examined by means of particle electrophoresis and the observations of zeta potentials were interpreted as showing that no significant adsorption of added compounds in the media was occurring onto the cell membranes.
Cell suspensions in media of a range of dielectric constant were subjected to a laminar flow shear gradient in a couette viscometer effecting aggregation of these suspensions. This method allowed a calculation of the total energy of adhesive interaction of the cells. It was shown that 5-day limb bud tissue has a much lower adhesive interaction energy than 7-day neural retina tissue. It was observed that in both tissues there was a steady increase in the adhesive interaction of the cells with increasing dielectric constant of the medium. These results are discussed in relation to the lyophobic colloid stability theory of cell adhesion.
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Jones, G.E. Intercellular adhesion: Modification by dielectric properties of the medium. J. Membrain Biol. 16, 297–312 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01872420
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01872420