TY - JOUR
T1 - Cell fusions in mammals
AU - Larsson, Lars-Inge
AU - Bjerregaard, Bolette
AU - Talts, Jan Fredrik
PY - 2008
Y1 - 2008
N2 - 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.
AB - 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.
KW - Former LIFE faculty
KW - Cell fusion
KW - Syncytin
KW - Cancer
KW - Placenta
KW - Env-W
U2 - 10.1007/s00418-008-0411-1
DO - 10.1007/s00418-008-0411-1
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 18351375
SN - 0948-6143
VL - 129
SP - 551
EP - 561
JO - Histochemistry and Cell Biology
JF - Histochemistry and Cell Biology
IS - 5
ER -