title: Rabbit zona pellucida composition: a molecular, proteomic and phylogenetic approach.
abstract: The zona pellucida (ZP) participates in sperm-egg interactions during the first steps of fertilization. Recent studies have shown that the ZP matrix of oocytes in several species is composed of four glycoproteins, designated as ZP1, ZP2, ZP3 and ZP4, rather than the three described in mouse, pig and cow. In this study, investigations were carried out to unveil a fourth glycoprotein in the rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) ZP. Using total RNA isolated from rabbit ovaries, the complementary deoxyribonucleic acid (cDNA) encoding rabbit ZP1 was amplified by reverse transcribed polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The ZP1 cDNA contains an open reading frame of 1825 nucleotides encoding a polypeptide of 608 amino acid residues. The deduced amino acid sequence of rabbit ZP1 showed high identity with other species: 70% identity with human and horse ZP1, and 67% identity with mouse and rat ZP1. At the proteomic level, peptides corresponding to the four proteins were detected by mass spectrometry. In addition, a molecular phylogenetic analysis of ZP1 showed that pseudogenization of this gene has occurred at least four times during the evolution of mammals. The data presented in this manuscript provide evidence, for the first time, that the rabbit ZP is composed of four glycoproteins.
authors: Department of Cell Biology and Histology, Faculty of Medicine and Faculty of Nursing, University of Murcia, 30100 Murcia, Spain.
authors: I
authors: I
authors: Stetson
authors: M J
authors: MJ
authors: Izquierdo-Rico
authors: C
authors: C
authors: Moros
authors: P
authors: P
authors: Chevret
authors: P L
authors: PL
authors: Lorenzo
authors: J
authors: J
authors: Ballesta
authors: P G
authors: PG
authors: Rebollar
authors: R
authors: R
authors: Gutiérrez-Gallego
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Avilés
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D004527:Egg Proteins / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005260:Female; D006023:Glycoproteins / Q000032:analysis; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D040901:Proteomics; D011544:Pseudogenes / Q000235:genetics; D011817:Rabbits; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry; D015044:Zona Pellucida / Q000737:chemistry*; D000072216:Zona Pellucida Glycoproteins
chemical_list: D004527:Egg Proteins; D006023:Glycoproteins; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface; C000606514:ZP1 protein, human; C000606515:ZP2 protein, human; C000606517:ZP3 protein, human; D000072216:Zona Pellucida Glycoproteins; C000606519:Zp1 protein, mouse; C000606520:Zp2 protein, mouse; C000606521:Zp3 protein, mouse; C000606522:Zp4 protein, rat