title: Pig zona pellucida 2 (pZP2) protein does not participate in zona pellucida formation in transgenic mice.
abstract: The zona pellucida, an extracellular matrix surrounding mammalian oocytes, is composed of three or four glycoproteins. It is well known that the zona pellucida plays several critical roles during fertilization, but there is little knowledge about its formation. The purpose of this study is to examine whether a pig zona pellucida glycoprotein 2 (pZP2) would assemble with mouse zona pellucida. A transgene construct was prepared by placing a minigene encoding pZP2 downstream from the promoter of mouse ZP2. The result showed that the transgenic protein was synthesized in growing oocytes but not incorporated into the zona pellucida. Furthermore, the pZP2 transgene did not rescue the phenotype in ZP2-knockout zona-deficient mice. These results indicate that pZP2 does not participate in mouse zona pellucida formation and the zona pellucida is constituted from its component proteins in a molecular species-specific manner between mice and pigs.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Developmental Biology and Reproduction, Hyogo College of Medicine, Institute for Advanced Medical Sciences, Nishinomiya, Japan.
authors.forename: Akiko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hasegawa
authors.forename: Nozomi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kanazawa
authors.forename: Hideaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sawai
authors.forename: Shinji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Komori
authors.forename: Koji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Koyama
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015152:Blotting, Northern / Q000379:methods; D004527:Egg Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005818:Genetic Engineering; D007150:Immunohistochemistry / Q000379:methods; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D009866:Oogenesis / Q000502:physiology; D010053:Ovary / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000494:pharmacology; D013552:Swine; D019076:Transgenes; D015044:Zona Pellucida / Q000378:metabolism*; D000072216:Zona Pellucida Glycoproteins
chemical_list: D004527:Egg Proteins; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D000072216:Zona Pellucida Glycoproteins; C000606520:Zp2 protein, mouse