Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 1994 Jun;125(5):1157-63.
doi: 10.1083/jcb.125.5.1157.

A hyaluronidase activity of the sperm plasma membrane protein PH-20 enables sperm to penetrate the cumulus cell layer surrounding the egg

Y Lin  1 , K Mahan, W F Lathrop, D G Myles, P Primakoff
Affiliations

A hyaluronidase activity of the sperm plasma membrane protein PH-20 enables sperm to penetrate the cumulus cell layer surrounding the egg

Y Lin et al. J Cell Biol. 1994 Jun.

Abstract

A typical mammalian egg is surrounded by an outer layer of about 3,000 cumulus cells embedded in an extracellular matrix rich in hyaluronic acid. A current, widely proposed model is that the fertilizing sperm, while it is acrosome intact, passes through the cumulus cell layer and binds to the egg zona pellucida. This current model lacks a well-supported explanation for how sperm penetrate the cumulus layer. We report that the sperm protein PH-20 has a hyaluronidase activity and is present on the plasma membrane of mouse and human sperm. Brief treatment with purified, recombinant PH-20 can release all the cumulus cells surrounding mouse eggs. Acrosome intact mouse sperm incubated with anti-PH-20 antibodies can not pass through the cumulus layer and thus can not reach the zona pellucida. These results, indicating that PH-20 enables acrosome intact sperm to penetrate the cumulus barrier, reveal a mechanism for cumulus penetration, and thus provide the missing element in the current model.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. J Exp Zool. 1979 Aug;209(2):229-38 - PubMed
    1. FEBS Lett. 1993 Dec 28;336(3):545-8 - PubMed
    1. Dev Biol. 1982 May;91(1):121-30 - PubMed
    1. Dev Biol. 1983 Feb;95(2):317-24 - PubMed
    1. Dev Biol. 1983 Aug;98(2):417-28 - PubMed

Publication types