Bioadhesion and the dewetting transition

The article discusses interferometric experiments carried out on a number o f receptor/ligand ('linker') based bioadhesion systems. The aim was to quan titatively test the applicability of wetting theory to bioadhesion. In all cases phase-separation phenomena were observed, with highly heterogeneous a dhesion disks, which is not consistent with a simple equilibrium wetting de scription. We present both theoretical and experimental evidence that these phenomena can be best understood in terms of two concepts: (I) a membrane- mediated linker-linker attraction, and (II) a linker-controlled dewetting t ransition. (C) 2001 Academie des sciences/Editions scientifiques et medical es Elsevier SAS.