  Macroscopic properties of suspensions, such as those composed of globular
particles (e.g., colloidal or macromolecular), can be tuned by controlling the
equilibrium aggregation of the particles. We examine how aggregation -- and,
hence, macroscopic properties -- can be controlled in a system composed of both
globular particles and long, flexible polymer chains that reversibly bind to
one another. We base this on a minimal statistical mechanical model of a single
aggregate in which the polymer chain is treated either as ideal or
self-avoiding, and, in addition, the globular particles are taken to interact
with one another via excluded volume repulsion. Furthermore, each of the
globular particles is taken to have one single site to which at most one
polymer segment may bind. Within the context of this model, we examine the
statistics of the equilibrium size of an aggregate and, thence, the structure
of dilute and semidilute suspensions of these aggregates. We apply the model to
biologically relevant aggregates, specifically those composed of macromolecular
proteoglycan globules and long hyaluronan polymer chains. These aggregates are
especially relevant to the materials properties of cartilage and the
structure-function properties of perineuronal nets in brain tissue, as well as
the pericellular coats of mammalian cells.
