MMCT has been in use since the 1970s and has contributed to a multitude of discoveries including tumor, metastasis and telomerase suppressor genes as well as information about epigenetics, x-inactivation, mitochondrial function and aneuploidy.
[3] Their method was based on previous work from 1974 by Ege, Ringertz, Veomett and colleagues,[4][5] synthesizing the techniques used at the time to induce multinucleation in cells, nuclear removal and cell-cell fusions.
[1] Procedures for MMCT differ slightly but they all require: the induction of multinucleation, enucleation (nuclear removal), and fusion.
These nuclei can then be removed using cytochalasin B to disrupt the cytoskeleton and centrifugation in a density gradient to force enucleation.
The newly created microcells can then be fused to recipient (target) cells by exposure to poly ethylene glycol, use of Sendai virus, or electrofusion.