Primakoff Paul, Myles Diana G
Department of Cell Biology, School of Medicine, University of California-Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
Science. 2002 Jun 21;296(5576):2183-5. doi: 10.1126/science.1072029.
Fertilization is the sum of the cellular mechanisms that pass the genome from one generation to the next and initiate development of a new organism. A typical, ovulated mammalian egg is enclosed by two layers: an outer layer of approximately 5000 cumulus cells and an inner, thick extracellular matrix, the zona pellucida. To reach the egg plasma membrane, sperm must penetrate both layers in steps requiring sperm motility, sperm surface enzymes, and probably sperm-secreted enzymes. Sperm also bind transiently to the egg zona pellucida and the egg plasma membrane and then fuse. Signaling in the sperm is induced by sperm adhesion to the zona pellucida, and signaling in the egg by gamete fusion. The gamete molecules and molecular interactions with essential roles in these events are gradually being discovered.
受精是一系列细胞机制的总和，这些机制将基因组从上一代传递到下一代，并启动新生物体的发育。一个典型的、排卵后的哺乳动物卵子被两层结构所包围：外层约有5000个卵丘细胞，内层是一层厚厚的细胞外基质，即透明带。为了到达卵子的质膜，精子必须在需要精子运动能力、精子表面酶以及可能还有精子分泌酶的步骤中穿透这两层结构。精子还会短暂地与卵子透明带和卵子质膜结合，然后融合。精子与透明带的黏附会诱导精子内的信号传导，而配子融合则会诱导卵子内的信号传导。在这些事件中起关键作用的配子分子和分子相互作用正逐渐被发现。
