Abstract
The formation of hybrid cells by the fusion of nuclei has usually required use of a fusing agent, such as Sendai virus, although the virus itself may cause undesirable chromosomal rearrangements. A 3T3 (thymidine kinase deficient; TK-) mouse cell line has been found to differ from other tested mouse lines (A9, CL1D) in fusing spontancoulsy with human cells, including human leukocytes and fibroblasts. Hybrids derived from 3T3-human leukocyte combinations can be easily identified as early as 10 to 12 days after culture in selective (HAT) medium. Hybridization has been confirmed bothe by chromosomal analysis and by electrophoretic examination of enzymes. Chromosomal rearrangements are relatively rare in these hybrids (0–3%). The ability to fuse spontaneously with other cells has been studied with clones derived from the stock 3T3 line. Marked variation in numbers of heterokaryons formed, and in number of nuclei per heterokaryon, was observed for these clones, suggesting that the property of spontaneous fusion may be intrinsic to the particular cell type, although presence of a latent virus cannot be exculded. spontaneous fusion of 3T3 cells with leukocytes has been achieved using 8 different human donors. This system can be used with leukocytes possessing chromosomal abnormalities for genechromosome correlations or with leukocytes possessing aberrant cytoplasmic organelles to elucidate their genetic control.
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Hagemeijer, A., Gerald, P. Spontaneous Hybridization of Human Leukocytes With a 3T3 (TK-) Mouse Cell Line. Pediatr Res 4, 438 (1970). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197009000-00021
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197009000-00021