Abstract
The yield of hybrid colonies after fusion of mammalian cells with polyethylene glycol (PEG) is increased if the cells are fused in Ca2+-free medium, and kept in Ca2+-free medium for at least 15 min after fusion. The protective effect of Ca2+-free medium is much more obvious when Baker PEG is used than when fusion is carried out with Koch- Light PEG. The increased yield of hybrid colonies is shown to be due to a reduced toxicity rather than to an increased efficiency of cell fusion. These improvements have been found to apply to a variety of cell lines, and also when cell fusion is carried out in suspension. This technique should be particularly useful in studies on mammalian cell hybridization using cell lines that are particularly sensitive to the toxic effect of PEG.
Literature cited
Davidson, R. L., and Gerald, P. S. (1976).Somat. Cell Genet. 2:165–176.
Davidson, R. L., O'Malley, K. A., and Weider, T. B. (1976).Somat. Cell Genet. 2:271–280.
Norwood, T. H., Zeigler, T. J., and Martin, G. M. (1976).Somat. Cell Genet. 2:263–270.
Meiss, H. K., and Basilico, C. (1972).Nature (London), New Biol. 239:66–68.
Burstin, S. J., Meiss, J. I., and Basilico, C. (1974).J. Cell. Physiol. 84:397–408.
Ashihara, T., Chang, S. D., and Baserga, R. (1978).J. Cell. Physiol. 96:15–21.
Smith, B. J., and Wigglesworth, N. M. (1973).J. Cell. Physiol. 82:339–348.
Smith, B. J., and Wigglesworth, N. M. (1974).J. Cell. Physiol. 84: 127–134.
Gefter, M. L., Margulies, D. H., and Scharff, M. (1977).Somat. Cell Genet. 3:231–236.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Schneiderman, S., Farber, J.L. & Baserga, R. A simple method for decreasing the toxicity of polyethylene glycol in mammalian cell hybridization. Somat Cell Mol Genet 5, 263–269 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01539165
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01539165