Polymer microbeads in immunology.

Synthetic polymer microbeads have been studied extensively and the required properties, including monodispersity and size range 0.05-10 microns can best be achieved by radiation polymerization based on methacrylate derivatives. Fluorochrome-conjugated beads can be used for cell surface markers and simultaneously to study phagocytosis. The paper reviews some of these applications. Cell separation techniques are also described. Future possibilities for immunological and cell biology studies are discussed.