@article{66663db79af14f34b1aa977dc72c93c6,
title = "Female fertility and the zona pellucida",
abstract = "Fertility in female mammals, including mice and humans, is dependent on the presence of a zona pellucida (ZP) around growing oocytes and unfertilized eggs. A ZP is required to stabilize contacts between oocyte microvilli and follicle cell projections that traverse the ZP to form gap junctions that support the health of growing oocytes and developing follicles. In the absence of a ZP, due to inactivation or mutation of genes encoding ZP proteins, there is a loss of contacts between growing oocytes and neighboring follicle cells and a concomitant reduction in the production of ovulated eggs that results in female infertility.",
author = "Wassarman, {Paul M.} and Litscher, {Eveline S.}",
note = "Funding Information: We are grateful to all members of our laboratory who contributed to our research on the zona pellucida at Harvard Medical School, Roche Institute of Molecular Biology, and Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Our research was supported in part by the National Institutes of Health (NICHD, HD-35105) and F Hoffmann-La Roche AG. Funding Information: We are grateful to all members of our laboratory who contributed to our research on the zona pellu-cida at Harvard Medical School, Roche Institute of Molecular Biology, and Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Our research was supported in part by the National Institutes of Health (NICHD, HD-35105) and F Hoffmann-La Roche AG. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} Wassarman and Litscher.",
year = "2022",
month = jan,
doi = "10.7554/eLife.76106",
language = "English",
volume = "11",
journal = "eLife",
issn = "2050-084X",
publisher = "eLife Sciences Publications",
}