Funding Organization(s): Karolinska Institutet, Swedish Research Council, Goran Gustafsson Foundation for Research in Natural Sciences and Medicine, Sven and Ebba-Christina Hagberg foundation, European Molecular Biology Organization, European Union
Recognition between sperm and the egg surface marks the beginning of life in all sexually reproducing organisms. This fundamental biological event depends on the species-specific interaction between rapidly evolving counterpart molecules on the gametes. We report biochemical, crystallographic, and mutational studies of domain repeats 1-3 of invertebrate egg coat protein VERL and their interaction with cognate sperm protein lysin ...
Recognition between sperm and the egg surface marks the beginning of life in all sexually reproducing organisms. This fundamental biological event depends on the species-specific interaction between rapidly evolving counterpart molecules on the gametes. We report biochemical, crystallographic, and mutational studies of domain repeats 1-3 of invertebrate egg coat protein VERL and their interaction with cognate sperm protein lysin. VERL repeats fold like the functionally essential N-terminal repeat of mammalian sperm receptor ZP2, whose structure is also described here. Whereas sequence-divergent repeat 1 does not bind lysin, repeat 3 binds it non-species specifically via a high-affinity, largely hydrophobic interface. Due to its intermediate binding affinity, repeat 2 selectively interacts with lysin from the same species. Exposure of a highly positively charged surface of VERL-bound lysin suggests that complex formation both disrupts the organization of egg coat filaments and triggers their electrostatic repulsion, thereby opening a hole for sperm penetration and fusion.
Related Citations:
The molecular basis of sex: linking yeast to human. Swanson, W.J., Aagaard, J.E., Vacquier, V.D., Monne, M., Sadat Al Hosseini, H., Jovine, L. (2011) Mol Biol Evol 28: 1963
Rapidly evolving zona pellucida domain proteins are a major component of the vitelline envelope of abalone eggs. Aagaard, J.E., Yi, X., MacCoss, M.J., Swanson, W.J. (2006) Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 103: 17302
Full-length sequence of VERL, the egg vitelline envelope receptor for abalone sperm lysin. Galindo, B.E., Moy, G.W., Swanson, W.J., Vacquier, V.D. (2002) Gene 288: 111
The abalone egg vitelline envelope receptor for sperm lysin is a giant multivalent molecule. Swanson, W.J., Vacquier, V.D. (1997) Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 94: 6724
Organizational Affiliation:
Department of Biosciences and Nutrition and Center for Innovative Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Huddinge, SE-141 83, Sweden. Electronic address: luca.jovine@ki.se.
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