CSE Community Seminar | October 30, 2026

Abstract

Controlling the physicochemical properties of nano/microparticles is key to optimizing their performance as drug carriers and achieving selective uptake by target cells. There exists abundant experimental evidence that particle size and shape play a major role in cellular uptake (phagocytosis) with distinct trends depending on the cell type (e.g. neutrophils vs. Macrophages). However, the physical principles governing the cell-dependent shape effect on engulfment remain poorly understood. Therefore, the design of nanoparticles in biomedicine relies heavily on brute force experiments, suffering from low efficiency without suitable predictive models. Here, we present a high-fidelity computational model predict the influence of nanoparticle size and shape on cell adhesion and phagocytosis in a cell-dependent manner. This work provides a quantitative framework for tailoring nanoparticles to control cellular interaction outcomes and enable selective targeting of specific cell types.