Monitoring of protein network dynamics: the role of FcRL proteins during sperm-egg membrane interaction

Sperm-­-egg membrane interaction and fusion is mediated by various molecules of the different protein network that are located on both egg and sperm membrane. So far, many proteins have been selected to be fusion candidates, some of them (Izumo1, CD9, Juno) were proven to be essential, whereas others were discovered to play an unsuspected new active role (CD46, tetraspanins). After the adhesion of sperm to an egg, Juno located on the oolema associates with monomeric Izumo1 on sperm membrane, which is results in Izumo1 dimerization following quick removal of Juno from the egg surface as described in mouse. It implies that additional receptor on the egg membrane is required to play a role in sperm-­-egg fusion. To find a human fusogenic receptor for IZUMO1 protein we used one-­-bead-­-one-­-compound (OBOC) assay, a random screening approach. A bead, fulfilling all the requirements when interacting with the human sperm, carried a peptide sequence showing homology with the conserved Ig domain of the human specific Fc receptor-­-like protein 3 (FcRL3). In general, the ..