Spectrofluorometric Assay for Cell-Tissue Electrofusion

Electrofusion is a process by which fusion between cell membranes can be induced by exposure to electrical fields (1 ,2 ). Many practical applications of electrofusion have been demonstrated, such as the formation of hybridomas (3 –6 ), the production of monoclonal antibodies (MAb) (7 –9 ), studying membrane fusion mechanisms (10 –14 ), and examining cytosolic events (15 –17 ). In addition, liposome-cell fusion has been utilized for the introduction of material into cells (18 ). Cell-tissue electrofusion (CTE) represents another electrofusion area of interest. In this process, individual cells are incorporated into intact tissue (19 ). CTE has been performed in vivo and has been shown to be useful for the interspecies transfer of membrane-surface components (20 ).