The rat sperm surface antigen 2D6, located over the entire surface of the spermatozoon, is shown by use of a monoclonal antibody in indirect immunofluorescence experiments to spread laterally over the surface of the egg after fusion of sperm and egg plasma membranes at fertilization. Freshly fertilized eggs, obtained from superovulated rats 14h after hCG injection, showed the 2D6 antigen to have spread in a gradient over a discrete fan-shaped area of the egg surface anterior to the protruding sperm tail. Eggs at a later stage of sperm incorporation, obtained 20 h after hCG injection, snowed that the spread of antigen had extended to cover most or all of their surfaces. By 40 h after hCG injection, the approximate time that fertilized eggs cleaved to form 2-cell embryos, most of the 2D6 antigen had been lost from the cell surface. Fertilized eggs, but not unfertilized eggs or 2-cell embryos, were lysed by 2D6 monoclonal antibody in the presence of guinea pig complement. A model for sperm-egg fusion is presented to account for the observed pattern of spreading shown by the 2D6 antigen. The possible role of sperm antigens on the egg surface is discussed.
Pathway to Independence programme
We’re excited to announce our new Pathway to Independence programme, aimed at supporting postdocs as they go on the job market. Find out more about the scheme in our Editorial.
Call for papers: Metabolic and Nutritional Control of Development and Regeneration
We are welcoming submissions for our next special issue, which will focus on metabolic and nutritional control of development and regeneration. Submission deadline: 15 May 2023.
Webinar: Increasing the visibility and impact of your research
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Would you like to increase the visibility and impact of your research and raise your profile internationally? If so, register for the very practical webinar we are running in association with HUBS on 23 February 2023.
Transitions in development: Daniel Grimes
Daniel Grimes’s lab studies the consequences of ciliary mutations, including left-right patterning defects and scoliosis. We interviewed Daniel to find out more about his career path, his experience of becoming a group leader and the influence of Jurassic Park.
Preprints in Development
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As part of our efforts to support the use of preprints and help curate the preprint literature, we are delighted to launch a new article type: ‘In preprints’. These pieces will discuss one or more recent preprints and place them in a broader context.
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