I was wondering whether there is a chemical or some cellular target that can fuze the 2 nuclei of a binucleate cell. Electrofusion works well, I was wondering whether same could be done with a reagent or inducing any gene.
Hello Kahan Bhadani
You could try Maturation-Promoting Factor (MPF). MPF, a complex of cyclin B and Cdc2, is a chemical responsible for the breakdown of nuclear envelop, leading to nuclear fusion during mitosis.
MPF is commercially available as a research reagent from both Sigma-Aldrich and Gibco. MPF induces nuclear envelope breakdown and therefore it is involved in the process of nuclear fusion, but it may not be marketed as a specific reagent for inducing or facilitating the fusion of nuclei.
As you mentioned, electrofusion is the best, but it is a relatively harsh procedure and can be damaging to cells if you do not optimize the parameters such as voltage, pulse duration, etc. for the type of cell being used.
Best,