Ichiro Kawasaki 1, 4, Kenta Sugiura 1, 4, Taeko Sasaki 2, Noriyuki Matsuda 3, Miyuki Sato 2, 4,* and Ken Sato 1,* (1. Laboratory of Molecular Traffic, Institute for Molecular and Cellular Regulation, Gunma University, 2. Laboratory of Molecular Membrane Biology, Department of Molecular Medicine, Institute for Molecular and Cellular Regulation, Gunma University, 3. Advanced Pathophysiological Science, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, 4. These authors equally contributed to this study. *Co-corresponding authors)
About
In many sexually reproducing organisms, oocytes are fundamentally fertilized with one sperm. However, the mechanism of the polyspermy block, in which the oocyte only fertilizes with one of many sperms and rejects the others, is still largely unknown. Here, we reveal that MARC-3, a membrane-associated RING-CH-type ubiquitin ligase is involved in the fast polyspermy block in Caenorhabditis elegans. This research is expected to answer a part of the fundamental question, “Why does the oocyte (egg) only fertilize with one sperm in animals that are fertilized inside the body?”
Paper information
Kawasaki, I, Sugiura, K, Sasaki, T, Matsuda N, Sato M, Sato K. MARC-3, a membrane-associated ubiquitin ligase, is required for fast polyspermy block in Caenorhabditis elegans. Nat Commun 15, 792 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-44928-6
Online URL
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-44928-6
