This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by LUCY, J. A. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by LUCY, J. A.

ASPECTS OF THE FUSION OF CELLS IN VITRO WITHOUT VIRUSES

Department of Biochemistry and Chemistry, Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine, University of London, London WC1N 1BP

INTRODUCTION: My colleagues and I are investigating a number of problems relating to the fusion of somatic cells, and I shall therefore be concerned primarily with this theme in the present paper.

It has been known for some years that mammalian cells occasionally fuse spontaneously in tissue culture. More amenable to experimental study, however, is the relatively frequent cell fusion that results after treatment of a wide variety of cells with specific viruses, in particular the Sendai virus. Many investigators have used virus-induced cell fusion as a valuable experimental tool in cell biology and others have studied its mechanisms. Despite this, the biochemical basis of virus-induced fusion remains unknown. It is nevertheless interesting in the context of this Symposium, and of the need for capacitation of a spermatozoon to be completed before the