title: Genetics of cell fusion: human chromosome 10 assignment of a gene (FUSE) that promotes polykaryocyte formation.
abstract: FUSE, a human gene which promotes polykaryocyte formation, has been identified and examined in cocultivation assays between rat XC cells and human-mouse hybrids retaining different combinations of human chromosomes. Polykaryocyte formation was never detected when parental cells of hybrids were cocultivated with XC cells. Somatic genetic synteny analysis employing different hybrid sets demonstrated that FUSE was coexpressed with the chromosome 10 markers glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase (GOTs) and an external membrane protein (EMP-130). Cytogenetic analysis confirmed this assignment to human chromosome 10. FUSE was expressed by hybrids made with both human leukocytes and fibroblasts from several individuals, indicating the gene is found in different tissues and may be ubiquitous. Only XC cells were involved in polykaryocyte formation as demonstrated by 33258 Hoechst staining and the absence of heteropolymers between rat and cell hybrid multimeric enzymes. Evidence suggests that the gene FUSE produces a nondiffusible and noninfectious product that is associated with the human-mouse hybrid surface.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001358:Avian Sarcoma Viruses; D002459:Cell Fusion; D002460:Cell Line; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism; D002472:Cell Transformation, Viral; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D002906:Chromosomes, Human, 6-12 and X; D005796:Genes; D006801:Humans; D006822:Hybrid Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D051381:Rats; D012867:Skin