Female fertility and the zona pellucida

eLife

Eveline S Litscher¹  Paul M Wassarman¹ 

[1] Department Cell, Developmental, and Regenerative Biology Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai One Gustave L. Levy Place, New York, United States;

关键词: zona pellucida;    oogenesis;    fertility;    genetics;    mutations;   

DOI  :  10.7554/eLife.76106

来源: eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd

【 摘 要 】

Fertility in female mammals, including mice and humans, is dependent on the presence of a zona pellucida (ZP) around growing oocytes and unfertilized eggs. A ZP is required to stabilize contacts between oocyte microvilli and follicle cell projections that traverse the ZP to form gap junctions that support the health of growing oocytes and developing follicles. In the absence of a ZP, due to inactivation or mutation of genes encoding ZP proteins, there is a loss of contacts between growing oocytes and neighboring follicle cells and a concomitant reduction in the production of ovulated eggs that results in female infertility.

【 授权许可】

CC BY