Nature Communications (Jul 2019)

Molecular basis of egg coat cross-linking sheds light on ZP1-associated female infertility

  • Kaoru Nishimura,
  • Elisa Dioguardi,
  • Shunsuke Nishio,
  • Alessandra Villa,
  • Ling Han,
  • Tsukasa Matsuda,
  • Luca Jovine

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-10931-5
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 10, no. 1
pp. 1 – 15

Abstract

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Glycoprotein ZP1 is a component of the oocyte’s zona pellucida (ZP), and mutations in human ZP1 are linked to female infertility. Here, using structure-function analysis, the authors suggest that filament cross-linking by ZP1 is required to form a stable ZP in human, and infertility mutations interfere with cross-linking.