TY - JOUR TI - TMEM95 is a sperm membrane protein essential for mammalian fertilization AU - Lamas-Toranzo, Ismael AU - Hamze, Julieta G AU - Bianchi, Enrica AU - Fernández-Fuertes, Beatriz AU - Pérez-Cerezales, Serafín AU - Laguna-Barraza, Ricardo AU - Fernández-González, Raúl AU - Lonergan, Pat AU - Gutiérrez-Adán, Alfonso AU - Wright, Gavin J AU - Jiménez-Movilla, María AU - Bermejo-Álvarez, Pablo A2 - Lishko, Polina V A2 - Akhmanova, Anna A2 - Lishko, Polina V VL - 9 PY - 2020 DA - 2020/06/02 SP - e53913 C1 - eLife 2020;9:e53913 DO - 10.7554/eLife.53913 UR - https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.53913 AB - The fusion of gamete membranes during fertilization is an essential process for sexual reproduction. Despite its importance, only three proteins are known to be indispensable for sperm-egg membrane fusion: the sperm proteins IZUMO1 and SPACA6, and the egg protein JUNO. Here we demonstrate that another sperm protein, TMEM95, is necessary for sperm-egg interaction. TMEM95 ablation in mice caused complete male-specific infertility. Sperm lacking this protein were morphologically normal exhibited normal motility, and could penetrate the zona pellucida and bind to the oolemma. However, once bound to the oolemma, TMEM95-deficient sperm were unable to fuse with the egg membrane or penetrate into the ooplasm, and fertilization could only be achieved by mechanical injection of one sperm into the ooplasm, thereby bypassing membrane fusion. These data demonstrate that TMEM95 is essential for mammalian fertilization. KW - fertilization KW - reproduction KW - JUNO KW - IZUMO JF - eLife SN - 2050-084X PB - eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd ER -