What exactly is the zona pellucida? Does it make up the plasma membrane, vitelline layer, AND jelly layer of the egg? So it's technically like the extracellular matrix of the egg cell?
What exactly is the zona pellucida? Does it make up the plasma membrane, vitelline layer, AND jelly layer of the egg? So it's technically like the extracellular matrix of the egg cell?
Introduction
The extracellular matrix, also known as the ECM, is a three-dimensional network of extracellular macromolecules and minerals, including collagen, enzymes, glycoproteins, and hydroxyapatite, that support neighbouring cells biochemically and structurally.
The composition of the extracellular matrix (ECM) differs throughout multicellular structures because multicellularity originated independently in several multicellular lineages; nonetheless, cell adhesion, cell-to-cell communication, and differentiation are universal functions of the ECM.
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