The adhesion of animal cells to surfaces: The measurement of critical surface shear stress permitting attachment or causing detachment

The ‘LH Fowler Cell Adhesion Measurement Module’ was successfully adapted to permit the determination of the critical shear forces involved in both the attachment to and the detachment from glass and plastic surfaces, by mammalian fibroblasts. Variations in the sensitivity of different cell types to critical shear forces were observed, although generally the critical shear forces permitting attachment were in the order of 1000‐times less than those causing detachment. Finally alterations to culture conditions indicated that the sensitivity of cell attachment to shear forces is strongly affected outside of optimal conditions.