Fusion of mammalian cells in culture is obtained by creating the contact between cells after their electropermeabilization.

Electropermeabilization of chinese hamster ovary cells (CHO) is a long lived process but is nevertheless fully reversible. Electrofusion can be obtained by centrifuging the cells several minutes after the pulsation and then by incubating the pellet. These results show that fusion is not directly created by the field but is due to the existence of a peculiar state of the plasma membrane. The permeabilized patches are local on the cell surface and do not spread or diffuse on it.