title: The biology of cortical granules.
abstract: An egg-that took weeks to months to make in the adult-can be extraordinarily transformed within minutes during its fertilization. This review will focus on the molecular biology of the specialized secretory vesicles of fertilization, the cortical granules. We will discuss their role in the fertilization process, their contents, how they are made, and the molecular mechanisms that regulate their secretion at fertilization. This population of secretory vesicles has inherent interest for our understanding of the fertilization process. In addition, they have import because they enhance our understanding of the basic processes of secretory vesicle construction and regulation, since oocytes across species utilize this vesicle type. Here, we examine diverse animals in a comparative approach to help us understand how these vesicles function throughout phylogeny and to establish conserved themes of function.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology, Cell Biology and Biochemistry, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02912 , USA.
authors.forename: G M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Wessel
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Brooks
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Green
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Haley
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Voronina
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Zaydfudim
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Conner
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D004527:Egg Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D005306:Fertilization / Q000502:physiology*; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D006025:Glycosaminoglycans / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008561:Membrane Fusion / Q000502:physiology; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010063:Ovum / Q000737:chemistry / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D021381:Protein Transport / Q000502:physiology*; D027724:Reproductive Techniques, Assisted; D022142:Secretory Vesicles / Q000737:chemistry / Q000502:physiology; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D004527:Egg Proteins; D006025:Glycosaminoglycans