ReviewMolecular human reproduction2013
The molecular basis of gamete recognition in mice and humans.
Review in Molecular human reproduction, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 47 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
47 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 125 citations in OpenAlex.
- Revisiting embryo assisted hatching approaches: a systematic review of the current protocols.Journal of assisted reproduction and genetics · 2018Pooled it
- Sexual selection and pseudogenization in primate fertilization.Evolution; international journal of organic evolution · 2025Article
- Crossing the barrier or how regulation of ovastacin controls fertilization and translates into clinical phenotypes.iScience · 2025Review
- Knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding the impact of diet on pregnancy among infertile individuals: a cross-sectional study.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Gene expression alterations in testicular biopsies from males with spermatogenesis arrest identified by transcriptome analysis.PloS one · 2025Article
- Improving sperm selection strategies for assisted reproduction through closing the knowledge gap in sperm maturation mechanics.Human reproduction open · 2025Review
- Involvement of Metalloproteases in the Fertilization of the AscidianBiomolecules · 2024Article
- Article
- Ovastacin: An oolemma protein that cleaves the zona pellucida to prevent polyspermy.Clinical and experimental reproductive medicine · 2023Article
- Sperm selection by the oviduct: perspectives for male fertility and assisted reproductive technologies†.Biology of reproduction · 2023Article
- Bone Morphogenetic Protein 15 (BMP-15) Improves In Vitro Mouse Folliculogenesis.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2023Article
- Article
- Initial detachment of the mouse oocyte from the zona pellucida is mediated by metallopeptidase activity†.Biology of reproduction · 2023Article
- Plant-Produced Mouse-Specific Zona Pellucida 3 Peptide Induces Immune Responses in Mice.Vaccines · 2023Article
- New horizons in human sperm selection for assisted reproduction.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2023Review
- Mechanisms of Sperm-Egg Interactions: What Ascidian Fertilization Research Has Taught Us.Cells · 2022Review
- Domain Expansion and Functional Diversification in Vertebrate Reproductive Proteins.Molecular biology and evolution · 2022Article
- The Importance of Gene Duplication and Domain Repeat Expansion for the Function and Evolution of Fertilization Proteins.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2022Review
- The conserved fertility factor SPACA4/Bouncer has divergent modes of action in vertebrate fertilization.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2021Article
- Proteomics support the threespine stickleback egg coat as a protective oocyte envelope.Molecular reproduction and development · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Successful fertilization heralds the onset of development and requires both gamete recognition and a definitive block to polyspermy. Sperm initially bind and penetrate the extracellular zona pellucida (ZP) that surrounds ovulated eggs, but are unable to bind the zona surrounding preimplantation embryos. The ZP of humans is composed of four (ZP1-4) and that of mouse three (ZP1-3) glycoproteins. Models for gamete recognition developed in mice had proposed that sperm bind to ZP3 glycans. However, phenotypes observed in genetically engineered mice are not consistent with this widely accepted model. More recently, taking advantage of the observation that human sperm do not bind to mouse eggs, human ZP2 was defined as the zona ligand in transgenic mouse models using gain-of-function assays. The sperm-binding site is an N-terminal domain of ZP2 that is cleaved by ovastacin, a metalloendoprotease released from egg cortical granules following fertilization. Proteolysis of this docking site provides a definitive block to polyspermy as sperm bind to uncleaved, but not cleaved ZP2 even after fertilization and cortical granule exocytosis. While progress has been made in defining the ZP ligand, less headway has been made in identifying the cognate sperm receptor. Although a number of sperm receptor candidates have been documented to interact with specific proteins in the ZP in vitro, continued fertility after genetic ablation of the cognate gene indicates that none are essential for gamete recognition. These on-going investigations inform reproductive medicine and suggest new therapies to improve fertility and/or provide contraception, thus expanding reproductive choices for human couples.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.