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PMID: 18649283 Published · ppublish English Journal Article Review

Reassessing the role of protein-carbohydrate complementarity during sperm-egg interactions in the mouse.

The International journal of developmental biology ·Vol. 52 ·No. 5-6 ·2008-00-00 ·Pages 703-15

Shur BD

Abstract

Despite years of intense study by many investigators, it may appear that we have made little progress towards a molecular understanding of mammalian sperm binding to the egg zona pellucida. An abundance of evidence derived from in vitro assays suggests that sperm-zona pellucida binding is dependent upon sperm recognition of specific glycan moieties on the zona pellucida glycoproteins. However, there is considerable disagreement regarding the identity of the zona pellucida sugars thought to mediate sperm binding, as well as disagreement over the identity of the sperm receptors themselves. Moreover, results from in vivo gene-targeting strategies fail to support a role for many, if not all, of the sperm receptors and their zona pellucida ligands implicated from in vitro assays. Nevertheless, a retrospective view of the literature suggests that some common principles are emerging regarding the molecular basis of mammalian sperm-zona binding, both with respect to the nature of the components that mediate binding, as well as the involvement of distinct receptor-ligand interactions, that involve both protein- and carbohydrate-dependent mechanisms of binding.

MeSH Terms
Animals Carbohydrates/chemistry Egg Proteins/chemistry Exocytosis Female Ligands Male Mammals Membrane Glycoproteins/chemistry Mice Models, Biological Polysaccharides/chemistry Protein Binding Proteins/chemistry Receptors, Cell Surface/chemistry Sperm-Ovum Interactions/physiology Zona Pellucida/metabolism Zona Pellucida Glycoproteins
Chemicals
Carbohydrates Egg Proteins Ligands Membrane Glycoproteins Polysaccharides Proteins Receptors, Cell Surface Zona Pellucida Glycoproteins
Authors & Affiliations
1 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Shur Barry D
Department of Cell Biology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA. [email protected]
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Article Info
Journal
The International journal of developmental biology
Abbr.
Int J Dev Biol
ISSN
0214-6282
DOI
10.1387/ijdb.082571bs
Email
[email protected]
Published
2008-00-00
Pages
703-15
Language
English
Region
Spain
NLM ID
8917470
PMCID
PMC2765369
Subset
IM
Grants
NICHD NIH HHS · R01 HD023479-19 · United States
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.1387/ijdb.082571bs PMC Full Text View journal details
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