Oolemmal proteomics – identification of highly abundant heat shock proteins and molecular chaperones in the mature mouse egg and their localization on the plasma membrane

Background The mature mouse egg contains the full complement of maternal proteins required for fertilization, the transition to zygotictranscription, and the beginning stages of embryogenesis. Many of these proteins remain to be characterized, therefore in this study we have identified highly abundant egg proteins using a proteomic approach and found that several of these proteins also appear to localize to the egg surface. Characterization of such molecules will provide important insight into the cellular events of fertilization and early development.