PHOSPHOLIPASE C ZETA MEDIATED OOCYTE ACTIVATION, COMPOSITIONS FOR USE THEREIN, AND ASSAYS FOR DETECTING AND IDENTIFYING AGENTS FOR TREATING MALE INFERTILITY

摘要

The invention relates to the use of phospholipase C zeta in inducing or promoting the activation of oocytes, preferably human oocytes, nuclear transfer embryos, parthenogenic embryos, cross species embryos and during in vitro fertilization.;The invention further relates to methods of detecting levels of expression of phospholipase c zeta in sperm as a means of detecting male infertility.;The invention also relates to the use of phospholipase C zeta to treat male infertility. Still further the invention relates to the recombinant cells that are engineered to express phospholipase C zeta, preferably under inducible conditions.;Also, the invention relates to antibodies specific to phospholipase C zeta, preferably human phospholipase C zeta.