A potential fusion peptide and an integrin ligand domain in a protein active in sperm-egg fusion
Abstract
THE union of sperm and egg is a special membrane fusion event that gives a signal1 to begin development. We have hypothesized2 that proteins mediating cell-cell fusion events resemble viral fusion proteins3,4and have shown that PH-30, a sperm surface protein involved in sperm-egg fusion5, shares biochemical characteristics with viral fusion proteins6. We report here the complementary DNA and deduced amino-acid sequences of the mature αand β subunits of PH-30. Both are type-I integral membrane glyco-proteins. The α subunit contains a putative fusion peptide typical of viral fusion proteins and the β subunit contains a domain related to a family of soluble integrin ligands found in snake venoms. Thus, the PH-30α/ βcomplex resembles many viral fusion proteins in both its membrane topology and its predicted binding and fusion functions.
- Publication:
-
Nature
- Pub Date:
- March 1992
- DOI:
- 10.1038/356248a0
- Bibcode:
- 1992Natur.356..248B