Cell fusions in mammals

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

  • Lars-Inge Larsson
  • Bolette Bjerregaard
  • Jan Fredrik Talts
Cell fusions are important to fertilization, placentation, development of skeletal muscle and bone, calcium homeostasis and the immune defense system. Additionally, cell fusions participate in tissue repair and may be important to cancer development and progression. A large number of factors appear to regulate cell fusions, including receptors and ligands, membrane domain organizing proteins, proteases, signaling molecules and fusogenic proteins forming alpha-helical bundles that bring membranes close together. The syncytin family of proteins represent true fusogens and the founding member, syncytin-1, has been documented to be involved in fusions between placental trophoblasts, between cancer cells and between cancer cells and host ells. We review the literature with emphasis on the syncytin family and propose that syncytins may represent universal fusogens in primates and rodents, which work together with a number of other proteins to regulate cell fusion machinery.
Original languageEnglish
JournalHistochemistry and Cell Biology
Volume129
Issue number5
Pages (from-to)551-561
Number of pages11
ISSN0948-6143
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2008

ID: 8113821