Pre-selection of B-Lymphocytes by Antigen for Fusion to Myeloma Cells by Pulsed Electric Field (PEF) Method

Abstract

Cells treated with pulsed electric field (PEF) tend to fuse together when brought into close contact by various means. The original discovery of this phenomenon is hard to trace because of the lack of documentation. Early findings of cells fused into large aggregates or mass by PEF were not fully appreciated and, therefore, few serious efforts were made to investigate the underlying biophysical mechanisms causing cell membrane fusion. It is quite possible that the value of electrofusion in biology and medicine were not fully realized by pioneering physicists. Evidently, several investigators and their coworkers continued with this research and are responsible for the recent resurrection of pulsed electric field method to induce cell fusion (Zimmermann et al., 1985; Neumann et al., 1980;Tsong, 1983;Teissie et al., 1982;Lo et al., 1984). Their championing of the potential applications of this technology in genetics and agriculture, and their experiments have contributed to recent interest paid by molecular and cell biologists alike to the PEF method (see e.g. chapters by Zimmermann, Sowers, Hui and Lucy). Another related area of current excitement, namely, the electric perforation of cell membranes for loading gene material, DNA, into cells has also helped to gain the popularity of the PEF method (Neumann et al., 1982; Potter et al., 1984; Tsong, 1983). Cell fusion using PEF is relatively simple.