Anti-ZP-2 Antibody, clone IE-3 clone IE-3, from rat

Zona pellucida sperm-binding protein 2 (UniProt: P20239; also known as Zona pellucida glycoprotein 2, Zp-2, Zona pellucida protein A) is encoded by the Zp2 (also known as Zp-2, Zpa) gene (Gene ID: 22787) in murine species. The zona pellucida is an extracellular matrix that surrounds the oocyte and early embryo. It is composed of three glycoproteins with various functions during fertilization and preimplantation development. The mammalian zona pellucida mediates species-specific sperm binding, induction of the acrosome reaction, and prevents post-fertilization polyspermy. ZP2 is expressed during the 2-week growth phase of oogenesis, prior to ovulation and may act as a secondary sperm receptor and is proteolytically cleaved in the N-terminal part by the metalloendopeptidase ASTL and is exocytosed from cortical granules after fertilization, yielding an N-terminal peptide of about 30 kDa which remains covalently attached to the C-terminal peptide via disulfide bond(s). This cleavage plays an important role in the post-fertilization block to polyspermy. Female mice lacking Zp2 gene do not form a stable zona matrix and are sterile. (Ref.: Hinsch, KD and Hinsch, E. (1999). Andrologia.31(5):320-322.)