The Mouse Egg's Zona Pellucida

Current Topics in Developmental Biology
P M Wassarman, Eveline S Litscher

Abstract

All mammalian eggs are surrounded by a highly specialized extracellular matrix (ECM), called the zona pellucida (ZP), that functions before, during, and after fertilization. Unlike somatic cell ECM the mouse ZP is composed of three different proteins, ZP1-3, that are synthesized and secreted by growing oocytes and assembled into long interconnected fibrils. ECM or vitelline envelope (VE) that surrounds fish, reptilian, amphibian, and avian eggs also consists of a limited number of proteins all closely related to ZP1-3. Messenger RNAs encoding ZP1-3 are expressed only by growing oocytes at very high levels from single-copy genes present on different chromosomes. Processing at the amino- and carboxy-termini of nascent ZP1-3 permits secretion of mature proteins into the extracellular space and assembly into fibrils and matrix. Structural features of nascent ZP proteins prevent assembly within secretory vesicles of growing oocytes. Homozygous knockout female mice that fail to synthesize either ZP2 or ZP3 are unable to construct a ZP, ovulate few if any eggs, and are infertile. ZP1-3 have a common structural feature, the ZP domain (ZPD), that has been conserved through 600 million years of evolution and is essential for ZP protein a...Continue Reading

Citations

Jun 23, 2020·Annual Review of Biochemistry·Eveline S Litscher, Paul M Wassarman
Jul 14, 2019·Nature Communications·Kaoru NishimuraLuca Jovine
Jul 28, 2019·BMC Evolutionary Biology·Claire C Morgan, Michael W Hart
Apr 29, 2020·Cell Death and Differentiation·Marie-Cécile De CianMarie-Christine Chaboissier
Sep 8, 2018·Science·Ruth Lehmann
Nov 17, 2020·The EMBO Journal·Alena StsiapanavaLuca Jovine
Mar 13, 2021·Biology of Reproduction·Ming-Hua ZengHong-Mei Xiao
Apr 26, 2021·Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics·Qing SangLei Wang
Sep 16, 2020·Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety·Feifei ShiXizeng Feng
Jun 21, 2021·Molecular Reproduction and Development·Emily E KillingbeckWillie J Swanson

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