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UC Davis
Davis, CA
CSUS
Sacramento, CA
ARC
Sacramento, CA |
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Glycobiology
| The role of carbohydrates in cell-cell interactions is complex,
elaborate and to some extent obscure. However, I think its
complexity makes it a challenging as well a fascinating field
of study. One important case of these cell-cell interactions is
the one that occurs between sperm and egg in mammals
since some consider this interaction to be the beginning of
life. In sexual reproduction, the path taken by millions of
sperms to reach the ovum is unique since only about
0.002 % will actually have contact with the oviduct
The only sperm that will survive and combines its generic
material to produce a new life is the one that fuses to its
counterpart germ cell, the egg, the rest of the sperm will not
survive for long in their own. The ability of the egg to receive the
sperm and allow it into the egg is not random luck but due to
highly specific sperm-egg interactions, which will allow one
sperm of the right species with a determinate "key" to go though
into the egg. The key-lock is a unique set of carbohydrates from
glycoproteins belonging to the Zona Pellucina (ZP), a coat that
surrounds the oocyte in mammals.
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