On long-range forces of repulsion between biological cells

We have established experimentally that when biological cells, for example, blood, are suspended in concentrated solutions of inorganic electrolytes (for instance, in a 15% solution of sodium chloride) then around some cells (leucocytes, especially tumour cells) there form haloes, i.e., circular spaces free from background cells (erythrocytes, yeast cells, colloidal particles of Indian ink). In the medium made up of erythrocytes the haloes form during 5–10 min as a result of the background cells drawing apart from the central halo-forming cell (HFC) at a distance of 10–100 μm and more.

In the medium made of the Indian ink particles, the haloes form during 2–4 s and attain a thickness of about 10–20 μm. The erythrocytes and the haloes forming in their medium can be preserved for about three to five days at room temperature.

It has been established that, when tumour HFCs are present at sufficient concentrations, they form hexagonal periodic structures having a mean spacing between cells of up to 60 μm.

The authors put forward as one probable suggestion that the formation of haloes is largely determined by long-range repulsive forces arising from the phenomenon of diffusiophoresis generated by the diffusion currents that emerge from the surface of halo-forming cells.