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The process of sperm-egg fusion is critical for successful fertilization, yet the underlying mechanisms that regulate these steps have remained unclear in vertebrates. Here, we show that both mouse and zebrafish DCST1 and DCST2 are necessary in sperm to fertilize the egg, similar to their orthologs SPE-42 and SPE-49 in  C. elegans  and Sneaky in  D. melanogaster . Mouse  Dcst1  and  Dcst2  single knockout (KO) sperm are able to undergo the acrosome reaction and show normal relocalization of IZUMO1, an essential factor for sperm-egg fusion, to the equatorial segment. While both single KO sperm can bind to the oolemma, they show the fusion defect, resulting that  Dcst1  KO males become almost sterile and  Dcst2  KO males become sterile. Similar to mice, zebrafish  dcst1  KO males are subfertile and  dcst2  and  dcst1/2  double KO males are sterile. Zebrafish  dcst1/2  KO sperm are motile and can approach the egg, but are defective in binding to the oolemma. Furthermore, we find that DCST1 and DCST2 interact with each other and are interdependent. These data demonstrate that DCST1/2 are essential for male fertility in two vertebrate species, highlighting their crucial role as conserved factors in fertilization.

Sperm membrane proteins DCST1 and DCST2 are required for sperm-egg interaction in mice and fish