Identification of a Binding Site in the Disintegrin Domain of Fertilin Required for Sperm-Egg Fusion
Fertilization and certain later stages in mammalian embryonic development require fusion between membranes of individual cells. The mechanism of eukaryotic cell-cell fusion is unknown, and no surface molecules required for this process have been unequivocally identified. The role of the sperm surfac...
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Published in | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 91; no. 10; pp. 4195 - 4198 |
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Main Authors | , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
United States
National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
10.05.1994
National Acad Sciences National Academy of Sciences |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Fertilization and certain later stages in mammalian embryonic development require fusion between membranes of individual cells. The mechanism of eukaryotic cell-cell fusion is unknown, and no surface molecules required for this process have been unequivocally identified. The role of the sperm surface protein fertilin in sperm-egg fusion was tested by using peptide analogues of a potential integrin binding site in the fertilin β subunit. Peptide analogues that include a TDE sequence from the disintegrin region of fertilin β are able to bind to the egg plasma membrane and strongly inhibit sperm-egg fusion. These results show that the disintegrin domain of fertilin β binds to the egg plasma membrane and that this binding is required for membrane fusion. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 0027-8424 1091-6490 |
DOI: | 10.1073/pnas.91.10.4195 |