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Sci. STKE, 8 May 2001
Vol. 2001, Issue 81, p. tw9
[DOI: 10.1126/scisignal.812001tw9]

EDITORS' CHOICE

Fertility Helping with Her Coat

Phospholipase C (PLC) hydrolyzes a membrane phospholipid to produce two second messengers that can, in turn, function in cellular signaling pathways. Fukami et al. examined the PLC{delta}4 isoform, which is localized to the acrosomal region of sperm. When the PLC{delta}4 gene was disrupted in mice, the resultant males were either sterile or produced very few progeny. The sperm were unable to interact appropriately with the egg coat, the zona pellucida. Because PLC{delta}4 is essential for an early step in mammalian fertilization, greater insight into the function of this protein may aid in understanding human fertility and have application to contraception.

K. Fukami, K. Nakao, T. Inoue, Y. Kataoka, M. Kurokawa, R.A. Fissore, K. Nakamura, M. Katsuki, K. Mikoshiba, N. Yoshida, T. Takenawa, Requirement of phospholipase C{delta}4 for the zona pellucida-induced acrosome reaction. Science 292, 920-923. [Abstract] [Full Text]

Citation: Helping with Her Coat. Sci. STKE 2001, tw9 (2001).

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Science Signaling. ISSN 1937-9145 (online), 1945-0877 (print). Pre-2008: Science's STKE. ISSN 1525-8882