Cell fusions in mammals.
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 cells. 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 the cell fusion machinery.
Larsson
Lars-Inge
LI
Anatomy and Cell Biology, IBHV, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Gronnegaardsvej 7, 1870 Frederiksberg C, Denmark. lail@life.ku.dk
Bjerregaard
Bolette
B
Talts
Jan Fredrik
JF
D000818:Animals; D002459:Cell Fusion; D005260:Female; D015686:Gene Products, env / Q000032:analysis* / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008322:Mammals / Q000378:metabolism*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D010920:Placenta / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D011247:Pregnancy; D011257:Pregnancy Proteins / Q000032:analysis* / Q000502:physiology
D015686:Gene Products, env; D011257:Pregnancy Proteins; C405335:syncytin