Abstract
Gamete fusion is a critical event of mammalian fertilization. A random one-bead one-compound combinatorial peptide library represented synthetic human egg mimics and identified a previously unidentified ligand as Fc receptor-like 3, named MAIA after the mythological goddess intertwined with JUNO.
This immunoglobulin super family receptor was expressed on human oolemma and played a major role during sperm-egg adhesion and fusion. MAIA forms a highly stable interaction with the known IZUMO1/JUNO sperm-egg complex, permitting specific gamete fusion.
The complexity of the MAIA isotype may offer a cryptic sexual selection mechanism to avoid genetic incompatibility and achieve favorable fitness outcomes. Copyright (C) 2022 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science.
No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
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