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A potential fusion peptide and an integrin ligand domain in a protein active in sperm–egg fusion

Nature volume 356, pages 248–252 (1992)Cite this article

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.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Pharmacology and Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California San Francisco, California, 94143, USA

    Carl P. Blobel, Tyra G. Wolfsberg & Judith M. White

  2. Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Department of Medicine, University of California San Francisco, California, 94143, USA

    Christoph W. Turck

  3. Department of Physiology, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, Connecticut, 06030, USA

    Diana G. Myles & Paul Primakoff

Authors
  1. Carl P. Blobel
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  2. Tyra G. Wolfsberg
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  3. Christoph W. Turck
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  4. Diana G. Myles
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  5. Paul Primakoff
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  6. Judith M. White
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Blobel, C., Wolfsberg, T., Turck, C. et al. A potential fusion peptide and an integrin ligand domain in a protein active in sperm–egg fusion. Nature 356, 248–252 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1038/356248a0

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