[5] In mammalian fertilisation, IZUMO1 binds to its egg receptor counterpart, Juno, to facilitate recognition and fusion of the gametes.

[6] The sperm-specific protein Izumo, named for a Japanese shrine dedicated to marriage, is essential for sperm-egg plasma membrane binding and fusion.

[7] Studies have shown that male Izumo knockout mice are sterile because their sperm are unable to fuse to the oocyte membrane.

[1] Izumo -/- mice produced morphologically normal sperm that were able to penetrate the zona pellucida, but could not fuse with to the eggs.

[1] Through the use of Western Blot analyses, it has been shown that Izumo is only expressed in the testis and is found on mature spermatozoa.