Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0043167 (pertussis)
19,595 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

To facilitate our understanding of the role of zona pellucida glycoproteins during fertilization in humans, recombinant human zona pellucida glycoprotein-A (hZPA), -B (hZPB) and -C (hZPC) were obtained by using Escherichia coli and baculovirus expression systems. Analysis by SDS-PAGE and Western blot of the Ni-NTA affinity purified recombinant proteins revealed that the baculovirus-expressed hZPA, hZPB and hZPC have an apparent molecular weight of approximately 110, approximately 70-75 and approximately 65 kDa, respectively, as compared to approximately 80, approximately 65 and approximately 50 kDa of the respective E. coli-expressed proteins. Lectin binding studies revealed that the baculovirus-expressed recombinant zona proteins were glycosylated. Major oligosaccharides were represented by strong reactivity with Concanavalin A (mannose alpha 1-3 or mannose alpha 1-6 residues) and Jacalin (alpha-O glycosides of Gal or GalNAc moieties). A significant increase in acrosomal exocytosis was observed when capacitated human sperm were incubated in vitro with baculovirus-expressed hZPB (P=0.0005) and hZPC (P=0.0005) The E. coli-expressed hZPB, hZPC and baculovirus-expressed hZPA failed to induce any significant increase (P>0.05) in acrosome reaction. In contrast to hZPC, the acrosome reaction induced by recombinant hZPB was not inhibited by pertussis toxin. These studies, for the first time, have demonstrated that in humans, ZPB also induces acrosomal exocytosis through a Gi independent pathway.
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PMID:Baculovirus-expressed recombinant human zona pellucida glycoprotein-B induces acrosomal exocytosis in capacitated spermatozoa in addition to zona pellucida glycoprotein-C. 1580 45

A translucent matrix termed the zona pellucida (ZP) surrounds the mammalian oocyte. It plays a critical role in fertilization by acting as a "docking site" for binding of spermatozoa followed by induction of the acrosome reaction in the zona bound sperm. Recent analyses of the genes of the human oocyte revealed that the ZP matrix is composed of four glycoproteins, designated as ZP1, ZP2, ZP3 and ZP4, instead of 3 found in the mouse ZP. Comparison of the deduced amino acid (aa) sequences of the human ZP glycoproteins with those from various species, revealed that these are evolutionarily conserved. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that ZP1 and ZP4 may be related as these have the highest sequence identity at the aa level within a given species. Each zona protein has a signal sequence driving these proteins to the endoplasmic reticulum, a aproximately 260 aa long 'ZP domain' comprising of 8-10 conserved cysteine residues, a C-terminal, hydrophobic transmembrane-like region and a short cytoplasmic tail. In order to understand the structure-function relationship of human ZP glycoproteins, our lab has cloned and expressed ZP2, ZP3 and ZP4 proteins both in E. coli as well as baculovirus expression systems. Simultaneously, our group has been able to amplify the cDNA encoding human ZP1. Employing baculovirus-expressed recombinant ZP glycoproteins; our group has provided evidence for the first time that in human, in addition to ZP3, ZP4 is also able to induce acrosomal exocytosis in the capacitated spermatozoa. ZP3 mediated induction of the acrosome reaction can be inhibited by pertussis toxin suggesting the involvement of G, protein in downstream signaling in contrast to ZP4, which follows a G, protein independent pathway. Hence, elucidation of the role of individual ZP glycoproteins in humans will provide a better insight into the gamete interaction culminating in fertilization.
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PMID:Structural and functional attributes of zona pellucida glycoproteins. 1756 74

Fertilization is indispensable for zygotic formation leading to the birth of animals and the species-specific sperm-egg binding thought to be the initial step in this important process. In birds, the oocyte, which encounters the spermatozoa at the time of fertilization, is enclosed in a perivitelline membrane (pvm) constructed of several zona pellucida glycoproteins (ZP proteins: ZP1, ZP2, ZP3, ZP4 and ZPD). The aim of this study was to determine the ZP protein in the pvm responsible for sperm-pvm binding in Japanese quail. We tested the effects of anti-ZP protein antibodies on in vitro sperm perforation in the pvm. The results showed that the anti-ZP1 and ZP3 antibody significantly blocked hole formation by sperm, whereas anti-ZP2, ZP4 and ZPD as well as normal rabbit serum had no such effect. When the sperm acrosome reaction was inhibited in the presence of pertussis toxin, sperm-pvm binding was observed. This sperm-pvm binding was significantly prevented when the purified ZP1 or ZP3 was included in the reaction mixture. Moreover, both digoxigenin-labeled ZP1 and ZP3 were found to interact with the sperm head by immunocytochemical observation. Our results indicate that sperm binding to the pvm is, at least in part, mediated by the interaction of ZP1 and ZP3 with the sperm head during fertilization in Japanese quail.
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PMID:Egg Envelope Glycoproteins ZP1 and ZP3 Mediate Sperm-Egg Interaction in the Japanese Quail. 3290 12