title: Fertilization in animals.
abstract: Fertilization in mammalian and nonmammalian organisms has many features in common. These features include a final maturation phase for sperm and eggs, species-specific binding of sperm to eggs, penetration by sperm of one or more extracellular coats surrounding eggs, fusion of sperm and eggs, and activation of eggs. Implicit in this are a variety of basic molecular events, including receptor-ligand interactions, signalling cascades, specific proteolysis, and nuclear transformations. Here, several of these events are addressed for fertilization in animals as diverse as starfish and mice.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York 10029-6574, USA. p_wassarman@smtplink.mssm.edu
authors.forename: P M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Wassarman
mesh_terms: D000177:Acrosome / Q000201:enzymology; D000818:Animals; D015220:Calcium Channels / Q000502:physiology; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000502:physiology; D002633:Chemotaxis / Q000502:physiology; D004527:Egg Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D010450:Endopeptidases / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005306:Fertilization / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins / Q000502:physiology; D051379:Mice; D010455:Peptides / Q000502:physiology; D013075:Sperm Capacitation / Q000502:physiology; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000502:physiology; D015044:Zona Pellucida / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D015220:Calcium Channels; D004527:Egg Proteins; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D010455:Peptides; D010450:Endopeptidases