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Updated: Jul 9, 2026

Cell-cell Fusion of Genome Edited Cell Lines for Perturbation of Cellular Structure and Function
Published on: December 7, 2019
Cell-to-cell fusion as a link between viruses and cancer
Dominik Duelli1, Yuri Lazebnik
1Department of Pathology, Chicago Medical School, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, North Chicago, Illinois 60064, USA. lazebnik@cshl.edu
Abstract:
The ability to fuse cells is shared by many viruses, including common human pathogens and several endogenous viruses. Here we will discuss how cell fusion can link viruses to cancer, what types of cancers it can affect, how the existence of this link can be tested and how the hypotheses that we propose might affect the search for human oncogenic viruses. In particular, we will focus on the ability of cell fusion that is caused by viruses to induce chromosomal instability, a common affliction of cancer cells that has been thought to underlie the malignant properties of cancerous tumours.
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