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Related Concept Videos

Fertilization01:38

Fertilization

During fertilization, an egg and sperm cell fuse to create a new diploid structure. In humans, the process occurs once the egg has been released from the ovary, and travels into the fallopian tubes. The process requires several key steps: 1) sperm present in the genital tract must locate the egg; 2) once there, sperm need to release enzymes to help them burrow through the protective zona pellucida of the egg; and 3) the membranes of a single sperm cell and egg must fuse, with the sperm...
SNAREs and Membrane Fusion01:43

SNAREs and Membrane Fusion

Once a transport vesicle has recognized its target organelle, the vesicular membrane needs to fuse with the target membrane to unload the cargo. Transmembrane proteins called SNAREs present on organelle membranes and their vesicles, mediate vesicle fusion.
SNAREs exist in pairs that symmetrically interact and catalyze the fusion of the lipid bilayers in vesicle and target organelle. v-SNARE in the vesicle membrane are single polypeptide chains that bind to a complementary t-SNARE, composed of 2...
Fusion of Secretory Vesicles with the Plasma Membrane01:26

Fusion of Secretory Vesicles with the Plasma Membrane

Proteins and neurotransmitters in secretory vesicles can be released from a cell upon vesicle docking, priming, and fusion with the plasma membrane. Vesicles are docked and primed in preparation for the quick exocytosis of their contents in response to a stimulus. The fusion process is mainly carried out by a SNAP Receptor or SNARE complex, consisting of synaptobrevin, syntaxin-1, and SNAP-25.
In 1993, Jim Rothman proposed that the antiparallel pairing of vesicular and transmembrane SNAREs, or...
Cleavage and Blastulation01:33

Cleavage and Blastulation

After a large-single-celled zygote is produced via fertilization, the process of cleavage occurs while zygotes travel through the uterine tube. Cleavage is a mitotic cell division that does not result in growth. With each round of successive cell division, daughter cells get increasingly smaller.
Enlargement of the Plasma Membrane01:22

Enlargement of the Plasma Membrane

Cell division and enlargement are processes that require precise control. The control ensures that cell division cannot proceed unless the cell has grown to a specific size. A spherical, dividing cell requires an approximately 1.6X increase in its surface area to double its volume. The secretory pathway also has a significant role in cell membrane enlargement. Secretory vesicles that bud off from the Golgi apparatus and later fuse with the plasma membrane during exocytosis are a major source of...
Mechanisms of Membrane Domain Formation00:59

Mechanisms of Membrane Domain Formation

Different physical properties of lipids and proteins allow them to localize and form distinct islands or domains in the membrane. Some membrane domains are formed due to protein-protein interactions, whereas others are formed due to the presence of specific lipids such as sphingolipids and sterols—for example, large proteins, such as bacteriorhodopsin, aggregate and create distinct domains.
Another mechanism for membrane domain formation involves membrane proteins interacting with cytoskeletal...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 23, 2026

Evaluation of Fertilization State by Tracing Sperm Nuclear Morphology in Arabidopsis Double Fertilization
05:21

Evaluation of Fertilization State by Tracing Sperm Nuclear Morphology in Arabidopsis Double Fertilization

Published on: August 29, 2019

Membrane Fusions During Mammalian Fertilization.

Taylor Gierke1, Pulan Liu1, Yonggang Lu2

  • 1Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.

Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology
|May 21, 2026
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Mammalian fertilization involves sperm capacitation and the acrosome reaction to penetrate the oocyte. Following fusion, the oocyte employs a cortical reaction to block polyspermy, ensuring successful reproduction.

Keywords:
Acrosome proteinsAcrosome reactionCortical reactionFertilizationOolemmaPolyspermy blockSperm–oocyte bindingSperm–oocyte fusionZona pellucida

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SNARE-mediated Fusion of Single Proteoliposomes with Tethered Supported Bilayers in a Microfluidic Flow Cell Monitored by Polarized TIRF Microscopy
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Last Updated: May 23, 2026

Evaluation of Fertilization State by Tracing Sperm Nuclear Morphology in Arabidopsis Double Fertilization
05:21

Evaluation of Fertilization State by Tracing Sperm Nuclear Morphology in Arabidopsis Double Fertilization

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SNARE-mediated Fusion of Single Proteoliposomes with Tethered Supported Bilayers in a Microfluidic Flow Cell Monitored by Polarized TIRF Microscopy
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SNARE-mediated Fusion of Single Proteoliposomes with Tethered Supported Bilayers in a Microfluidic Flow Cell Monitored by Polarized TIRF Microscopy

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Cell-cell Fusion of Genome Edited Cell Lines for Perturbation of Cellular Structure and Function
07:30

Cell-cell Fusion of Genome Edited Cell Lines for Perturbation of Cellular Structure and Function

Published on: December 7, 2019

Area of Science:

  • Reproductive Biology
  • Cellular Biology
  • Developmental Biology

Background:

  • Fertilization requires sperm to undergo capacitation and acrosome reaction.
  • Sperm must penetrate the zona pellucida and fuse with the oocyte plasma membrane (oolemma).
  • Oocyte activates mechanisms to prevent polyspermy after initial sperm fusion.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To outline the key molecular and cellular events of mammalian fertilization.
  • To describe the processes of sperm capacitation, acrosome reaction, and oocyte fusion.
  • To explain the oocyte's mechanisms for blocking polyspermy.

Main Methods:

  • Review of established literature on fertilization processes.
  • Analysis of molecular interactions between sperm and oocyte.
  • Description of cellular events including membrane fusion and cortical granule exocytosis.

Main Results:

  • Sperm capacitation and acrosome reaction are essential for zona pellucida penetration.
  • Sperm-oocyte recognition, binding, and fusion are mediated by specific surface receptors.
  • The oocyte's cortical reaction modifies the zona pellucida and reduces oolemma binding capacity to block polyspermy.

Conclusions:

  • Successful fertilization depends on a coordinated sequence of sperm-egg interactions.
  • The acrosome reaction facilitates sperm penetration, while the cortical reaction prevents multiple sperm entries.
  • Understanding these events is crucial for reproductive medicine and fertility research.