Cellular Structural Biology of Fertilization

molecular architecture of mammalian sperm

The scientific interest of the group is in the molecular basis of fertilization.

Fertilization is a complex multi-step process with a complicated spatiotemporal pattern; it includes sperm-oocyte recognition, interaction and fusion. The molecular basis of mammalian fertilization is still considered a molecular enigma. To address the open questions in the field the group is applying a cellular structural biology approach.

The group combines biochemistry, biophysics and advanced cryo-electron microscopy to unravel the molecular basis of fertilization

Interested in this subject ? look at our Research Projects     

Would like to join our team? contact us at z.zeev@uu.nl

Follow us @TzviyaZBM

 

Further reading:

  1. Leung M.R., Zeng J., Wang X., Roelofs M.C., Huang W., Zenezini Chiozzi R., Hevler J.F., Heck A.J.R., Dutcher S.K., Brown A., Zhang R., Zeev-Ben-Mordehai T.. Structural specializations of the sperm tail. 2023 Cell.186(13):2880-2896.e17
  2. Leung M. R., Zenezini-Chiozzi R., Roelofs M. C., Hevler J. F., Ravi, R. T., Maitan P., Zhang M., Henning H., Bromfield E.G., Howes S. C., Gadella B. M.,Heck A. J. R., Zeev-Ben-Mordehai T.* In-cell structures of a conserved supramolecular array at the mitochondria-cytoskeleton interface in mammalian sperm. 2021. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 118(45):e2110996118
  3. Khanal S., Leung M. R., Royfman A., Fishman E. L., Saltzman B., Bloomfield-Gadêlha H., Zeev-Ben-Mordehai T., and Avidor-Reiss T. A dynamic basal complex modulates mammalian sperm movement. 2021. Nature Communications. 12:3808.
  4. Leung M. R., Roelofs M. C., Ravi R. T., Maitan P., Zhang M., Henning H., Bromfield E.G., Howes S. C., Gadella B. M., Bloomfield-gadêlha H., Zeev-Ben-Mordehai T. The multi-scale architecture of mammalian sperm flagella and implications for ciliary motility. 2021. EMBO J. 40:e107410.

  5. Ravi R. T., M. R. Leung, T. Zeev-Ben-Mordehai. Looking back and looking forward: contributions of electron microscopy to the structural cell biology of gametes and fertilisation. 2020. Open Biol. 10:200186.