Structural Basis of Egg Coat-Sperm Recognition at Fertilization.

ABSTRACT: 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

SUBMITTER: Raj I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5480393 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature