1. Glycoproteins of the vitelline envelope of Amphibian oocyte: biological and molecular characterization of ZPC component (gp41) in Bufo arenarum
- Author
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Florencia Correa-Fiz, Dario Krapf, Marcelo O. Cabada, Silvia E. Arranz, and Gustavo A. Barisone
- Subjects
Male ,Molecular Sequence Data ,Xenopus ,Vitelline membrane ,Receptors, Cell Surface ,Zona Pellucida Glycoproteins ,Homology (biology) ,Xenopus laevis ,Complementary DNA ,Genetics ,Animals ,Protein Isoforms ,Amino Acid Sequence ,RNA, Messenger ,Cloning, Molecular ,Phylogeny ,chemistry.chemical_classification ,Sperm-Ovum Interactions ,Membrane Glycoproteins ,biology ,Base Sequence ,urogenital system ,Egg Proteins ,Cell Biology ,biology.organism_classification ,Molecular biology ,Diploidy ,Spermatozoa ,Amino acid ,Transmembrane domain ,chemistry ,Biochemistry ,Bufo arenarum ,Oocytes ,Female ,Glycoprotein ,Vitelline Membrane ,Developmental Biology - Abstract
The vitelline envelope (VE) parti- cipates in sperm-egg interactions during the first steps of fertilization. In Bufo arenarum, this envelope is composed of at least four glycoproteins, with molecular masses of 120, 75, 41, and 38 kDa and molar ratio of 1:1.3:7.4:4.8, respectively. These components were isolated and covalently coupled to silanized glass slides in order to study their sperm-binding capacity. When considering the molar ratio of the glycoproteins in the egg-envelope and assuming that each protein is monovalent for sperm, the assay showed that gp41 and gp38 possess 55 and 25% of total sperm-binding activity. We obtained a full-length cDNA of gp41 (ZPC), comprising a sequence for 486 amino acids, with 43.3% homology with Xenopus laevis ZPC. As in the case of mammalian ZP3 and Xenopus ZPC, Bufo ZPC presented a furin-like (convertase) and a C- terminal transmembrane domain (TMD) reflecting common biosynthetic and secretory pathways. As it was reported for some fishes, we obtained evidence that suggests the presence of more than one zpc gene in Bufo genome, based on different partial cDNA sequences of zpc, Southern blots and two-dimensional SDS-PAGE of deglycosylated egg-envelope compo- nents. As far as we are aware, this is the first observation of the presence of different zpc genes in an Amphibian species. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 74: 629- 640, 2007. 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
- Published
- 2006