受精作用是有性生殖过程中的终极事件,精子与卵子间的融合过程是其中最关键的步骤。单倍体的精子和卵子相互识别和融合形成一个双倍有机体。尽管其潜在的分子机制还不是很清楚,但是最近的基因敲除试验已经证实精卵融合过程中需要3个必不可少的因子:位于卵母细胞上的CD9蛋白,精子上的Izumo1蛋白及其在卵母细胞上的受体蛋白Juno。缺乏其中的任何一种蛋白分子将会导致精卵融合机制紊乱。综述重点介绍了这3种精卵融合关键蛋白的最新研究进展。
Sperm-egg fusion is one of the most critical steps of fertilization which is an ultimate event in sexual reproduction. Mutual recognition and fusion of the haploid sperm and egg to form a new diploid organism. Although the underlying molecular mechanisms are poorly understood, the recent gene knockout experiments have confirmed that the process requires three essential factors: CD9 on egg, izumol on sperm and its counter-receptor Juno on egg. Lack of either of these proteins the sperm-egg fusion mechanism would be disordered. This review mainly describes the latest research progress of the three key sperm-egg fusion proteins.