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Updated: May 19, 2026

High Throughput Microinjections of Sea Urchin Zygotes
Published on: January 21, 2014
The quest for the sea urchin egg receptor for sperm
1Marine Biology Research Division, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0202, USA. vvacquier@ucsd.edu
Abstract:
This review discusses identification, isolation and characterization of proteins mediating species-selective sperm-to-egg adhesion during sea urchin fertilization. Bindin is the only sea urchin sperm protein known to mediate species-selective sperm attachment to eggs. Two completely different egg surface proteins, 350-kDa and EBR1, have affinity for bindin and each one meets all the criteria to be a species-selective sperm receptor. Experiments suggest that sperm bindin recognizes both the sulfated O-linked oligosaccharides on the egg 350-kDa glycoprotein, and also the repeated protein sequence modules of EBR1.
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