Analysis of sperm-egg fusion and egg activation by live imaging of fertilzation

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24770210
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Developmental biology
• Research Institution: Osaka University
• Principal Investigator: SATOUH Yuhkoh 大阪大学, 微生物病研究所, 助教 (40545571)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 受精 / ライブイメージング / 遺伝子改変動物

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this study, we aimed at the understanding of mammalian fertilization, especially sperm-egg fusion and egg activation by visualizing these phenomena using gene manipulated animal and live imaging technique. First, it was succeeded to visualize the moment of sperm-egg fusion in live using fluorescence-tagged IZUMO1 and CD9, and the significance of endocytotic activity of egg was strongly implicated. And, by the generation of gene-manipulated mouse line which lacks a newly reported sperm-born egg activation factor, it was proven that the factor doesn’t play any essential role in mouse egg activation.
Additionally, we succeeded to develop a novel gene-editing method using CRISPR/Cas9 system for rapid generation of gene deleted or point mutant mice, which enabled us to generate the multiple lines of mutant mice for essential factor(s) in sperm-egg fusion or egg activation.

Free Research Field

生殖生物学