Nature Communications (Oct 2019)

Phosphatidylserine on viable sperm and phagocytic machinery in oocytes regulate mammalian fertilization

  • Claudia M. Rival,
  • Wenhao Xu,
  • Laura S. Shankman,
  • Sho Morioka,
  • Sanja Arandjelovic,
  • Chang Sup Lee,
  • Karen M. Wheeler,
  • Ryan P. Smith,
  • Lisa B. Haney,
  • Brant E. Isakson,
  • Scott Purcell,
  • Jeffrey J. Lysiak,
  • Kodi S. Ravichandran

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-12406-z
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 10, no. 1
pp. 1 – 13

Abstract

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Izumo and Juno are receptors on sperm and eggs respectively required for fusion, but other factors for sperm-egg fusion are poorly studied. Here, the authors report that phosphatidylserine, found mainly on cells marked for death, is also present on motile sperm, recognized by egg receptors, and is required for sperm-egg fusion.