Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40042902›Full record

ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2025

Allosteric inhibition of the IZUMO1-JUNO fertilization complex by the naturally occurring antisperm antibody OBF13.

Yonggang Lu, Masahito Ikawa, Shaogeng Tang

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Article
  3. The SPARK complex forms the molecular basis of vertebrate fertilization.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026
    Article
  4. Membrane Fusions During Mammalian Fertilization.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2026
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Yonggang LuPremium Research Institute for Human Metaverse Medicine, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan.ORCID 0000-0003-0198-8906
Masahito IkawaResearch Institute for Microbial Diseases, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan.ORCID 0000-0001-9859-6217
Shaogeng TangDepartment of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520.ORCID 0000-0002-3904-492X

Funding

X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy (XAS) pp.711-759P41GM103393 · NIGMS · STANFORD UNIVERSITY · PI HODGSON, KEITH O · 2012 to 2019
$30.6M
Cell Surface Receptor Recognition and Membrane Fusion in Mammalian FertilizationR00HD104924 · NICHD · YALE UNIVERSITY · PI Shaogeng Tang · 2024 to 2026
$723k
David Sokal Innovation Award of Male Contraceptive Initiative 2024-303HHS | NIH | Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) R00HD104924Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED) JP23jf0126001MEXT | Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) JP21H05033MEXT | Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) JP22K15103MEXT | Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) JP23K20043MEXT | Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) JP24K02033NICHD NIH HHS R00 HD104924NIGMS NIH HHS P41 GM103393Takeda Science Foundation (TSF) 2024032851
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Sperm IZUMO1 binds to egg JUNO, and this interaction is essential for mammalian fertilization. Isolated from a female mouse immunized with syngeneic sperm, the antisperm antibody OBF13 recognizes IZUMO1 and inhibits murine fertilization. How OBF13 interferes with sperm-egg interactions was unknown. Here, we present the X-ray crystal structure of IZUMO1 in complex with OBF13. OBF13 binds to the apex of the four-helix domain of IZUMO1, distant from the JUNO-binding site. Our crystal structure of OBF13-bound IZUMO1 resembles apo-IZUMO1 and differs from the structure of IZUMO1 in complex with JUNO. We identify that OBF13 carries a low level of somatic hypermutation, and through deep mutational scanning, we engineer an affinity-enhanced OBF13 variant. This OBF13 variant single-chain fragment variable decreases the apparent affinity of IZUMO1 for membrane-bound murine JUNO and blocks the binding of acrosome-reacted sperm to eggs, thereby preventing fertilization. We propose allostery between the OBF13 epitope and the JUNO-binding site. OBF13 inhibits a conformational change in IZUMO1, preventing fusion-competent sperm from adhering to murine eggs during fertilization. Surprisingly, murine IZUMO1 binds to hamster JUNO with an affinity ~20-fold higher than to murine JUNO. The decreased affinity caused by OBF13 of murine IZUMO1 for hamster JUNO is sufficient for murine sperm to bind to and fuse with hamster eggs. Our studies provide a structural and mechanistic framework for species-specific, allosteric inhibition of IZUMO1 by a naturally occurring antisperm antibody and offer insights into the development of immunocontraceptives.

Indexed as

FertilizationImmunoglobulinsMembrane ProteinsSpermatozoaAllosteric RegulationAnimalsCrystallography, X-RayFemaleMaleMiceProtein BindingSperm-Ovum InteractionsImmunoglobulinsIzumo1 protein, mouseMembrane Proteinsantisperm antibodycontraceptionfertilizationinfertilityIZUMO1

Identifiers

PMID40042902
PMCPMC11912406

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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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.