Topic summary
Syncytial
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Syncytium.
Viral infection
Syncytia can also form when cells are infected with certain types of viruses, notably HSV-1, HIV, MeV, SARS-CoV-2, and pneumoviruses, e.g. respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). These syncytial formations create distinctive cytopathic effects when seen in permissive cells. Because many cells fuse together, syncytia are also known as multinucleated cells, giant cells, or polykaryocytes. During infection, viral fusion proteins used by the virus to enter the cell are transported to the cell surface, where they can cause the host cell membrane to fuse with neighboring cells.