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PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
5
pubmed:dateCreated
1999-7-16
pubmed:abstractText
Fertilin is a protein initially identified in guinea pig spermatozoa; it is the prototype of a larger family of conserved, proteins designated as a disintegrin and a metalloproteinase (ADAM). These heterodimers which consist of alpha and beta subunits, containing metalloproteinase-like and disintegrin-like domains, appear to play a role in mammalian fertilization. Peptides derived from the disintegrin domains of two ADAMs, fertilin and cyritestin, interfere with gamete adhesion and sperm-egg membrane fusion in non-human species. It has been suggested that fertilin-beta binds to an oolemmal integrin, and it is proposed that the tripeptide FEE (Phe-Glu-Glu) is the integrin recognition sequence in human fertilin-beta. We evaluated whether fertilin beta plays a role in human fertilization by studying the effects of a linear octapeptide containing the FEE sequence, SFEECDLP, and a scrambled octapeptide with the same amino acids, SFPCEDEL, on the incorporation of human spermatozoa by human zona-free eggs. The effects of G4120, a potent RGD-containing (Arg-Gly-Asp) thioether-bridged cyclic peptide which blocks both fibronectin and vitronectin receptors, and the relationship between FEE- and RGD-receptor interactions on sperm-egg interactions were also studied. The FEE-containing peptide, but not the scrampled peptide, inhibited sperm adhesion to oocytes and their penetration, over the range 1-5 microM. The inhibition induced by SFEECDLP was reversible and occurred only in the presence of peptide itself. The G4120 peptide exhibited 10-fold less inhibitory effects on sperm adhesion and penetration than did SFEECDLP. When combined, SFEECDLP and G4120 exhibited strong inhibition of both adhesion and penetration at concentrations that individually had been ineffective, suggesting co-operation between the two receptor-ligand interactions during fertilization. We propose that a fertilin-like molecule is functionally active on human spermatozoa and that its interaction with an oolemmal integrin receptor plays a role in fertilization in humans.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
May
pubmed:issn
1360-9947
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
5
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
433-40
pubmed:dateRevised
2009-9-2
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
1999
pubmed:articleTitle
Evidence that a functional fertilin-like ADAM plays a role in human sperm-oolemmal interactions.
pubmed:affiliation
Department of Ob/Gyn, State University of New York at Stony Brook, 11794-8091, USA.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article