Fusion between human and Drosophila melanogaster cells induced by polyethylene glycol

Surfactant enhancement of polyethyleneglycol-induced cell fusion

B16 mouse melanoma cells in monolayers may be satisfactorily fused with 50% PEG 1500. However, pre-treatment with detergents in solution at low concentrations significantly increases PEG fusion, up to 8-fold in some instances, without impairing cell viability. The practical and mechanistical implications of this finding are discussed.

Induction of premature chromosome condensation in Drosophila melanogaster-rat heterokaryons

After fusion mediated by polyethylene glycol (PEG) plus dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) between rat and Drosophila melanogaster cells cultured in vitro, the phenomenon of premature chromosome condensation (PCC) induced by mitotic rat chromosomes was detected in Drosophila nuclei. Exceptionally PCC was induced in rat nuclei but only in the presence of a very high ploidy level of Drosophila mitotic chromosomes. This provides further evidence of the lack of species specificity and of the effect of dosage of the PCC inducing factors, even among very distant species.