Book Description

Cell Hybrids summarizes the methodology of cell fusion-the fusion of human, animal, and plant cells of different origins to produce cell hybrids-and surveys the main applications and current findings of the hybridization technique. The book opens with a chapter on the history cell hybridization. This is followed by separate chapters on spontaneous cell fusion, virus-induced cell fusion, the cell fusion mechanism, regulation of DNA synthesis and mitosis in heterokaryons and homokaryons, and regulatory events which occur when two cells with different nuclear activity and/or phenotype are fused with each other. Subsequent chapters deal with methods used in preparing various cell fragments and some of their properties and uses in fusion experiments; isolation of growing hybrid cells; chromosome patterns and phenotypic expression in hybrid cells; cell organelles in hybrid cells; analysis of malignancy by cell hybridization. The final chapters discuss the use of somatic cell hybridization to analyze the interaction between a number of viruses and their host cells; and the use of plant cell hybrids.