Pablo E. Visconti is an Argentine professor of

reproductive biology Reproductive biology includes both sexual and asexual reproduction. Reproductive biology includes a wide number of fields: * Reproductive systems * Endocrinology * Sexual development (Puberty) * Sexual maturity * Reproduction * Fertility H ...

at the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) is a public land-grant research university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Massachusetts system and was founded in 1863 as the ...

, whose papers on reproduction were recognized as Papers of the Week by both the ''

Journal of Biological Chemistry The ''Journal of Biological Chemistry'' (''JBC'') is a weekly peer-reviewed scientific journal that was established in 1905., jbc.org Since 1925, it is published by the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. It covers research i ...

'' and ''

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ''Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America'' (often abbreviated ''PNAS'' or ''PNAS USA'') is a peer-reviewed multidisciplinary scientific journal. It is the official journal of the National Academy of Scie ...

'' in October 2013.

Career

In 2010, Visconti, Julian Sosnik, and Mariano G. Buffone studied

CD9 CD9 is a gene encoding a protein that is a member of the transmembrane 4 superfamily also known as the tetraspanin family. It is a cell surface glycoprotein that consists of four transmembrane regions and has two extracellular loops that contain ...

, CAPZA3, and

IZUMO1 Izumo sperm-egg fusion protein 1 (Sperm-specific protein izumo) is encoded in humans by the ''IZUMO1'' gene. In mammalian fertilisation, IZUMO1 binds to its egg receptor counterpart, Juno, to facilitate recognition and fusion of the gametes. ...

proteins. During their studies they discovered that CAPZA3 protein was similar to IZUMO1 and is considered to be an inhibitor of

latrunculin The latrunculins are a family of natural products and toxins produced by certain sponges, including genus '' Latrunculia'' and '' Negombata'', whence the name is derived. It binds actin monomers near the nucleotide binding cleft with 1:1 stoichiom ...

. In 2011 he and his colleagues presented strong evidence of

transmembrane A transmembrane protein is a type of integral membrane protein that spans the entirety of the cell membrane. Many transmembrane proteins function as gateways to permit the transport of specific substances across the membrane. They frequently u ...

adenyl cyclase Adenylate cyclase (EC 4.6.1.1, also commonly known as adenyl cyclase and adenylyl cyclase, abbreviated AC) is an enzyme with systematic name ATP diphosphate-lyase (cyclizing; 3′,5′-cyclic-AMP-forming). It catalyzes the following reaction: :A ...

being present in ''

Rhinella arenarum ''Rhinella arenarum'' is a species of toad in the family Bufonidae that is found in southern Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, Argentina (Chubut Province Chubut ( from Tehuelche language, Tehuelche 'transparent'; ) is a provinces of Argentina, pro ...

''. In 1999, Visconti and his colleagues studied

sodium bicarbonate Sodium bicarbonate ( IUPAC name: sodium hydrogencarbonate), commonly known as baking soda or bicarbonate of soda (or simply “bicarb” especially in the UK) is a chemical compound with the formula NaHCO3. It is a salt composed of a sodium cat ...

and suggested that

cyclic adenosine monophosphate Cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP, cyclic AMP, or 3',5'-cyclic adenosine monophosphate) is a second messenger, or cellular signal occurring within cells, that is important in many biological processes. cAMP is a derivative of adenosine tri ...

in combination with

tyrosine phosphorylation Tyrosine phosphorylation is the addition of a phosphate () group to the amino acid tyrosine on a protein. It is one of the main types of protein phosphorylation. This transfer is made possible through enzymes called tyrosine kinases. Tyrosine phos ...

could change

hamster Hamsters are rodents (order Rodentia) belonging to the subfamily Cricetinae, which contains 19 species classified in seven genera. They have become established as popular small pets. The best-known species of hamster is the golden or Syrian ...

sperm. In 2013 he and his colleagues from the Rosario National University and the

National Autonomous University of Mexico The National Autonomous University of Mexico (, UNAM) is a public university, public research university in Mexico. It has several campuses in Mexico City, and many others in various locations across Mexico, as well as a presence in nine countri ...

studied

in vitro fertilization In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is a process of fertilisation in which an egg is combined with sperm in vitro ("in glass"). The process involves monitoring and stimulating the ovulatory process, then removing an ovum or ova (egg or eggs) from ...

and suggested that pathways in head and tail have different proteins.

References

External links

* Living people 20th-century births 21st-century American biologists University of Massachusetts Amherst faculty Year of birth missing (living people) {{US-biologist-stub