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1 August 2000 A Monoclonal Antibody That Recognizes Mammalian Cortical Granules and a32-Kilodalton Protein in Mouse Eggs
V. S. Gross, G. Wessel, H. M. Florman, T. Ducibella
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Abstract

The fertilization-induced exocytosis of egg cortical granules (CGs) is responsible for a block to polyspermy, crucial to the viability of many species. The contents of mammalian CGs have been an elusive target for analysis because of picogram quantities of CG proteins. By using media enriched in secreted CG contents from calcium ionophore-induced eggs as an immunogen, a monoclonal antibody was raised that immunolocalized to structures in the mouse egg cortex with all the hallmarks of CGs. These structures were the correct size, absent from the region over the metaphase II spindle, and greatly reduced after fertilization. Double-labeling experiments confirmed that the antibody recognized the same population of CGs as those recognized by Lens culinaris agglutinin. On Western blots, the antibody primarily recognized a 32-kDa protein (and secondarily one at ∼25 kDa) in mouse eggs. Analysis of biotin-labeled secreted proteins from activated eggs confirmed that CGs release only a small number of major proteins (45, 34, 32, 28, and ∼20 kDa by SDS-PAGE). We therefore propose that the 32-kDa protein identified by this antibody is likely to correspond to the 32-kDa protein released from activated eggs and that it may be involved in the block to polyspermy. These methods should make it possible to generate additional antibodies to study the structure of CG components as well as their roles in the polyspermy block and CG biogenesis.

V. S. Gross, G. Wessel, H. M. Florman, and T. Ducibella "A Monoclonal Antibody That Recognizes Mammalian Cortical Granules and a32-Kilodalton Protein in Mouse Eggs," Biology of Reproduction 63(2), 575-581, (1 August 2000). https://doi.org/10.1095/biolreprod63.2.575
Received: 29 July 1999; Accepted: 1 April 2000; Published: 1 August 2000
KEYWORDS
developmental biology
fertilization
gametogenesis
oocyte development
ovum
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