How sperm and egg fuse together has long been a mystery.
New search By scientists in Austria provides puzzling evidence, it appears Fertilization It functions like lock and key throughout the animal kingdom, from fish to humans.
“We have discovered this mechanism that is really fundamental in all vertebrates as far as we can tell,” said co-author Andrea Pauli from the Research Institute of Molecular Pathology in Vienna.
The team found that three proteins found in sperm combine to form a kind of key that unlocks the egg, allowing the sperm to attach. Their findings, from studies in zebrafish, mice and human cells, show how this process has continued over millions of years of evolution. The results were published Thursday in the journal Cell.
This photomicrograph provided by the Institute for Molecular Pathology Research in October 2024 shows fertilization of a zebrafish (Danio rerio) egg by a sperm, highlighted in orange. (Elf via AP)
Scientists previously knew the existence of two proteins, one of which is present on the surface of the sperm and the other on the egg membrane. Working with international collaborators, Pauli's lab used Google DeepMind's AlphaFold AI tool — whose developers were honored Nobel Prize earlier this month – to help them identify a new protein that allows the first molecular contact between sperm and egg. They also showed how it works in living organisms.
Pauli said it was not previously known how proteins work together as a team in order to allow sperm and egg to recognize each other.
Scientists still don't know how sperm actually gets inside the egg after it attaches to it, and they hope to delve into that later.
Ultimately, Pauley said, such work could help other scientists better understand infertility or develop new methods of birth control.
The work provides targets for contraceptive development for men in particular, said David Greenstein, a genetics and cell biology expert at the University of Minnesota, who was not involved in the study.
The latest study “also underscores the importance of this year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry,” he said in an email.
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Science and Education Media Group. AP is solely responsible for all content.
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