Abstract
This chapter discusses recent findings of spontaneous cell fusion and focuses on its significance within the context of recent debates about adult stem cell plasticity. “Cell fusion” has become a phenomenon of renewed interest in stem cell biology. It has been proposed as an important alternative mechanism to explain the apparent plasticity, or “transdifferentiation,” of mammalian cells observed in many recent studies. Cell fusion is categorized as one form of membrane fusion widely observed in nature. Indeed, spontaneous cell fusion, including that between types not normally seen to fuse in an animal, has been observed for decades both in culture dishes and in mammals. This process has been most intensively studied for infection of animal cells by enveloped viruses, which contain glycoproteins capable of inducing fusion between the cell membrane and the viral envelope.
Published Version
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