Dimyristoylated peptides incorporated into liposomes are polyvalent fertilin beta mimics

[structure: see text]. Fertilin beta is an integral membrane sperm protein that is involved in sperm binding to the egg plasma membrane. We synthesized a dimyristoylated fertilin beta peptide and incorporated it into POPC liposomes at 1 mol %. The concentration of fertilin beta peptide required for 50% inhibition is reduced 100-fold to 5.2 +/- 1.6 microM relative to a monomeric control. Moreover, in contrast to the inhibition observed with monomeric peptides, we obtain complete inhibition with the peptidic liposomes.