ArticleIntegrative biology : quantitative biosciences from nano to macro2017
Zinc sparks induce physiochemical changes in the egg zona pellucida that prevent polyspermy.
Article in Integrative biology : quantitative biosciences from nano to macro, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 53 papers.
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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.
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Who cites it
53 citing papers in PubMed, 109 citations in OpenAlex.
- Extracellular zinc acts as a dynamic extracellular regulator of fertilization in Xenopus laevis†.Biology of reproduction · 2026Article
- Molecular interplay between sperm and oocyte: a narrative review.Human reproduction update · 2026Review
- Roles of the zona pellucida in gamete fusion and of the perivitelline space in blocking polyspermy in mice.EMBO reports · 2026Article
- What we could not have known: ovarian cycles, follicle development, and the signature of life.Molecular human reproduction · 2026Review
- The oocyte zinc transportereLife · 2025Article
- Crossing the barrier or how regulation of ovastacin controls fertilization and translates into clinical phenotypes.iScience · 2025Review
- Article
- Influencing factors of three pronuclei incidence and their impact on pregnancy outcomes in women with good prognosis undergoing conventionalFrontiers in reproductive health · 2025Article
- Zinc transporter ZnT3/Slc30a3 has a potential role in zinc ion influx in mouse oocytes.The Journal of reproduction and development · 2024Article
- Female fertility and the mammalian egg'sHistology and histopathology · 2024Review
- Advances in Organic Fluorescent Probes for Intracellular ZnMolecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Review
- Molecular dynamics of JUNO-IZUMO1 complexation suggests biologically relevant mechanisms in fertilization.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Ovastacin: An oolemma protein that cleaves the zona pellucida to prevent polyspermy.Clinical and experimental reproductive medicine · 2023Article
- Article
- Mutations in PLCZ1 induce male infertility associated with polyspermy and fertilization failure.Journal of assisted reproduction and genetics · 2023Article
- Preimplantation Developmental Competence of Bovine and Porcine Oocytes Activated by Zinc Chelation.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2022Article
- Zinc's Association with the CmPn/CmP Signaling Network in Breast Cancer Tumorigenesis.Biomolecules · 2022Review
- Single molecule microscopy to profile the effect of zinc status on transcription factor dynamics.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Atomic force spectroscopy-based essay to evaluate oocyte postovulatory aging.Bioengineering & translational medicine · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 2 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
During fertilization or chemically-induced egg activation, the mouse egg releases billions of zinc atoms in brief bursts known as 'zinc sparks.' The zona pellucida (ZP), a glycoprotein matrix surrounding the egg, is the first structure zinc ions encounter as they diffuse away from the plasma membrane. Following fertilization, the ZP undergoes changes described as 'hardening', which prevent multiple sperm from fertilizing the egg and thereby establish a block to polyspermy. A major event in zona hardening is cleavage of ZP2 proteins by ovastacin; however, the overall physiochemical changes contributing to zona hardening are not well understood. Using X-ray fluorescence microscopy, transmission and scanning electron microscopy, and biological function assays, we tested the hypothesis that zinc release contributes to ZP hardening. We found that the zinc content in the ZP increases by 300% following activation and that zinc exposure modulates the architecture of the ZP matrix. Importantly, zinc-induced structural changes of the ZP have a direct biological consequence; namely, they reduce the ability of sperm to bind to the ZP. These results provide a paradigm-shifting model in which fertilization-induced zinc sparks contribute to the polyspermy block by altering conformations of the ZP matrix. This adds a previously unrecognized factor, namely zinc, to the process of ZP hardening.
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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.