FEBS Letters
Volume 581, Issue 11 , Pages 2181-2193, 22 May 2007

Cell–cell fusion

Edited by Thomas Söllner

  • Elizabeth H. Chen

      Affiliations

    • Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 725 N. Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
    • ,
  • Eric Grote

      Affiliations

    • Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe St., Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
    • ,
  • William Mohler

      Affiliations

    • Department of Genetics and Developmental Biology, University of Connecticut Health Center, MC-3301, 263 Farmington Ave., Farmington, CT 06030-3301, USA
    • ,
  • Agnès Vignery

      Affiliations

    • Yale School of Medicine, Department of Orthopaedics, TMP535A,B, 330 Cedar Street, New Haven, CT 06510, USA
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorresponding author. Fax: +1 203 737 2701.
    • Authors are listed by alphabetical order.

Received 11 December 2006; received in revised form 9 March 2007; accepted 12 March 2007. published online 22 March 2007.

Abstract 

Cell–cell fusion is a highly regulated and dramatic cellular event that is required for development and homeostasis. Fusion may also play a role in the development of cancer and in tissue repair by stem cells. While virus–cell fusion and the fusion of intracellular membranes have been the subject of intense investigation during the past decade, cell–cell fusion remains poorly understood. Given the importance of this cell-biological phenomenon, a number of investigators have begun analyses of the molecular mechanisms that mediate the specialized fusion events of a variety of cell types and species. We discuss recent genetic and biochemical studies that are beginning to yield exciting insights into the fusion mechanisms of Saccharomyces cerevisiae mating pairs, Caenorhabditis elegans epithelial cells and gametes, Drosophila melanogaster and mammalian myoblasts, and mammalian macrophages.

Keywords: Cell fusion, Yeast, Myoblast, Macrophage, Caenorhabditis elegans, Drosophila melanogaster

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PII: S0014-5793(07)00298-0

doi:10.1016/j.febslet.2007.03.033

FEBS Letters
Volume 581, Issue 11 , Pages 2181-2193, 22 May 2007

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