The structure of sperm Izumo1 reveals unexpected similarities with invasion proteins (Current Biology)

Interaction between sperm Izumo1 and egg Juno is essential for triggering the fusion of mammalian gametes, but the sequences of these proteins do not resemble known membrane fusogens. Here, Nishimura et al. report the crystal structure of mouse Izumo1 and show that this shares similarities with Plasmodium proteins involved in host cell invasion.