Journal
GLYCOBIOLOGY
Volume 11, Issue 4, Pages 37R-43RPublisher
OXFORD UNIV PRESS INC
DOI: 10.1093/glycob/11.4.37R
Keywords
acrosome reaction; fertilization; protein-carbohydrate recognition; sperm-egg interaction; zona pellucida
Categories
Funding
- NICHD NIH HHS [HD12986] Funding Source: Medline
Ask authors/readers for more resources
The process of fertilization begins when sperm contact the outermost egg investment and ends with fusion of the two haploid pronuclei in the egg cytoplasm, Many steps in fertilization involve carbohydrate-based molecular recognition between sperm and egg. Although there is conservation of gamete recognition molecules within vertebrates, their homologues have not get been discovered in echinoderms and ascidians (the invertebrate deuterostomes). In echinoderms, long sulfated polysaccharides act as ligands for sperm receptors, Ascidians employ egg coat glycosides that are recognized by sperm surface glycosidases. Vertebrate egg coats contain zona pellucida (ZP) family glycoproteins, whose carbohydrates bind to sperm receptors, Several candidate sperm receptors For vertebrate ZP proteins have been identified and are discussed here. This brief review focuses on new information concerning fertilization in deuterostomes (the phylogenetic group including echinoderms, ascidians, and vertebrates) and highlights protein-carbohydrate interactions involved in this process.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available