博川报道：牛津大学、比利时根特大学、马萨诸塞大学在美国的Amherst分校的研究人员发现一种基因突变类型的男性不育症.
    这一发现发表在《人类生殖》杂志上,可能为未能成功体外受精的夫妇提供新的治疗途径,并有可能导致男性避孕药的产生.该小组在根特大学医院一间诊所发现一名精子缺陷型的体外受精失败患者.
    突变发生在精子中称为PLC zeta的一个特殊蛋白质上.起重要作用的牛津团队最近研究发现,受精过程中,精子将PLC Zeta运送到卵子上.蛋白质启动卵子激活,从而启动胚胎所必需的所有生物过程.
    “受精前,卵细胞是休眠的.所有的生物过程中发生在胚胎开始生长和发育的过程中”,牛津大学药理学院的约翰·帕尔博士解释说, “一旦受精,精子与卵子融合,卵子便开始了生命.这就像王子唤醒睡美人.”

博川推荐原文检索：
  Mutation Causing One Type Of Male Infertility Found: Contraceptive Pill For Men Next?
  ScienceDaily (July 27, 2009) — A genetic mutation that lies behind one type of male infertility has been discovered by researchers at Oxford University, Ghent University in Belgium, and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in the USA.
  The discovery, published in the journal Human Reproduction, may provide a new approach to help some couples that have been unsuccessful in IVF treatments, and could potentially lead to the development of a male contraceptive pill.
  The mutation was found in a man known to have a defect in his sperm following initially unsuccessful IVF treatment at a clinic at Ghent University Hospital.
  The mutation lies in one specific protein present in sperm called PLC zeta. Recent research, in which the Oxford team played a significant role, has shown that sperm transfers PLC zeta to the egg on fertilisation. The protein initiates a process called ‘egg activation’ which sets off all the biological processes necessary for development of the embryo.
An egg cell before fertilisation is in a state of suspended animation. All the biological processes that occur in the growth and development of an embryo are on pause,’ explains Dr John Parrington of the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Oxford. ‘At the moment of fertilisation, when a sperm fuses with the egg, the egg bursts into life. It’s like a Prince waking Sleeping Beauty.
  原文链接"A key step for the future will be to identify the cellular pathways that are affected by these cyclic peptide原:( sciencedaily网站相关报道（英文）)
  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090725204014.htm
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