Adhesion of leucocytes to microscope slides as influenced by electrostatic interaction

The adhesion of leucocytes to standard microscope slides is low, which severely limits the cell recovery in cytological preparations on such slides. We coated the slides with various polycations with the aim of achieving an electrostatic surface charge which would increase the cell adhesion but would still avoid cell disruption. The adhesion of leucocytes from a K562 myeloid cell suspension and from cerebrospinal fluid was measured on standard slides made of glass and of oxidized polystyrene, and on slides coated with several chemically different cationic polymers. The electrostatic surface charge and the surface tension of these matrices were determined. We found the cell adhesion to be significantly higher on the matrices with a more attractive zeta potential and not to be measurably influenced by the surface tension of the matrices. The results help to improve the cytological preparation technique, especially for suspensions with a low cell content.