Acrosome Reaction as a Preparation for Gamete Fusion

CUASNICÚ PS.; COHEN DJ; WEIGEL MUÑOZ M; WEIGEL MUÑOZ M; DA ROS VG; DA ROS VG; CUASNICÚ PS.; COHEN DJ

ADVANCES IN ANATOMY EMBRYOLOGY AND CELL BIOLOGY

SPRINGER-VERLAG BERLIN

Año: 2016 vol. 22 p. 159 - 172

0301-5556

Acrosome reaction is a universal requisite for sperm-egg fusion. However, differently from what has been observed in most animals, eutherian gamete fusion occurs through a specialized region from the acrosome, known as the equatorial segment (ES), that becomes fusogenic only after acrosome reaction is completed. This review focuses on molecular mechanisms involved in the acquisition of fusogenicity of the ES after the acrosome reaction. We describe a group of proteins that have been proposed to be involved in this process by modifying molecules already present in this region or by relocalizing to the ES after the acrosome reaction where they may be involved in gamete fusion.