New insights into the role of microheterogeneity of ZP3 during structural maturation of the avian equivalent of mammalian zona pellucida.

ABSTRACT: The egg coat including mammalian zona pellucida (ZP) and the avian equivalent, i.e., inner-perivitelline layer (IPVL), is a specialized extracellular matrix being composed of the ZP glycoproteins and surrounds both pre-ovulatory oocytes and ovulated egg cells in vertebrates. The egg coat is well known for its potential importance in both the reproduction and early development, although the underlying molecular mechanisms remain to be fully elucidated. Interestingly, ZP3, one of the ZP-glycoprotein family members forming scaffolds of the egg-coat matrices with other ZP glycoproteins, exhibits extreme but distinctive microheterogeneity to form a large number of isoelectric-point isoforms at least in the chicken IPVL. In the present study, we performed three-dimensional confocal imaging and t

SUBMITTER: Okumura H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10030024 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature