Surface characteristics and the interaction of colloidal particles with mouse peritoneal macrophages

The effect of surface characteristics on the interaction of sterically stabilized polystyrene particles with mouse peritoneal macrophages was studied using a range of poloxamers and poloxamine as coating agents. The coated particles were characterized in terms of thickness of coating layer, surface charge and critical flocculation temperature. The relative phagocytic uptake was found to decrease with increasing adsorbed layer thickness i.e. longer hydrophilic polymer chains of the coating agent and consequently a greater steric stabilization effect.