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Deficiency in Sperm–Egg Protein Interaction as a Major Cause of Fertilization Failure

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Abstract

Complete elucidation of fertilization process at molecular level is one of the unresolved challenges in sexual reproduction studies, and understanding the molecular mechanism is crucial in overcoming difficulties in infertility and unsuccessful in vitro fertilization. Sperm–oocyte interaction is one of the most remarkable events in fertilization process, and deficiency in protein–protein interactions which mediate this interaction is a major cause of unexplained infertility. Due to detection of how the various defects of sperm–oocyte interaction can affect fertilization failure, different experimental methods have been applied. This review summarizes the current understanding of sperm–egg interaction mechanism during fertilization and also accumulates the different types of sperm–egg interaction abnormalities and their association with infertility. Several detection approaches regarding sperm–egg protein interactions and the associated defects are reviewed in this paper.

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Abbreviations

PPI:

Protein–protein interaction

−/− :

Deletion gene in knockout genome

IVF:

In vitro fertilization

ZP:

Zona pellucida

AR:

Acrosome reaction

ART:

Assisted reproductive technology

ZPIAR:

ZP-induced AR

2D:

Two-dimension

TMEM190:

Transmembrane protein 190

SPESP1:

Sperm equatorial segment protein 1

SPACA:

Sperm acrosome-associated proteins

SAMP:

Sperm acrosomal membrane-associated protein

SLLP1:

Sperm lysosomal-like protein 1

ADAMs:

Disintegrin and metalloproteinase domain

IgSF:

Immunoglobulin superfamily

Itg:

Integrin

Y2H:

Yeast two-hybrid

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia Institutional Postal Doctorate Research Grant (PDRU02E96) for the funding.

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  1. Department of Biological and Health Sciences, Faculty of Bioscience & Medical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310, Johor, Malaysia

    Soudabeh Sabetian & Mohd Shahir Shamsir

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Sabetian, S., Shamsir, M.S. Deficiency in Sperm–Egg Protein Interaction as a Major Cause of Fertilization Failure. J Membrane Biol 250, 133–144 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00232-017-9954-1

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