title: The Dark Side of Cell Fusion.
abstract: Cell fusion is a physiological cellular process essential for fertilization, viral entry, muscle differentiation and placental development, among others. In this review, we will highlight the different cancer cell-cell fusions and the advantages obtained by these fusions. We will specially focus on the acquisition of metastatic features by cancer cells after fusion with bone marrow-derived cells. The mechanism by which cancer cells fuse with other cells has been poorly studied thus far, but the presence in several cancer cells of syncytin, a trophoblastic fusogen, leads us to a cancer cell fusion mechanism similar to the one used by the trophoblasts. The mechanism by which cancer cells perform the cell fusion could be an interesting target for cancer therapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecology Obstetrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, ‎Geneva 1211, Switzerland. daniel.bastida@etu.unige.ch.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bastida-Ruiz
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecology Obstetrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, ‎Geneva 1211, Switzerland. kylie.vanhoesen@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Kylie
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Van Hoesen
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecology Obstetrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, ‎Geneva 1211, Switzerland. marie.cohen@hcuge.ch.
authors.forename: Marie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cohen
mesh_terms: D001854:Bone Marrow Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D002459:Cell Fusion; D015686:Gene Products, env / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D009360:Neoplastic Cells, Circulating / Q000378:metabolism; D014411:Neoplastic Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D011257:Pregnancy Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D014327:Trophoblasts / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D015686:Gene Products, env; D011257:Pregnancy Proteins; C405335:syncytin
keywords: cancer; cell fusion; drug resistance; metastasis; syncytin