Native zona pellucida structure is required for completion of sperm acrosome reaction in porcine fertilization.
In fertilization in vitro, the penetration rate of zona-intact porcine oocytes by cryopreserved epididymal spermatozoa was about 100% while that of zona-free oocytes was only 30%. Spermatozoa treated with calcium ionophore A23187 penetrated both zona-intact and zona-free oocytes at the rate of more than 90%. Treatment of spermatozoa with solubilized procine zonae pellucidae hardly induced acrosome reaction and did not increase the penetration rate. These results suggest that the structure of the zona is necessary for completion of acrosome reaction.
Yoshizawa
M
M
Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Chiba University 1-33 Yayoi-cho, Inage-ku, Chiba-shi, Chiba 263, Japan.
Nagai
T
T
Yonezawa
N
N
Nakano
M
M