Fig. 3.

Localization and role of Zar1/2 in mice oocytes. In Mus musculus, ZAR1 and ZAR2 are distributed differently as ZAR1 is located in cortical areas, whereas ZAR2 is evenly distributed in the cytoplasm. ZAR proteins putatively interact with cytoplasmic lattice (CPL) proteins to maintain oogenesis. In Zar1^−/− or Zar2^−/− oocytes, meiosis is abnormal, and Zar2^−/− mice are fertile. However, in Zar1/2^−/− oocytes, meiotic maturation defects were much more serious than in Zar1^−/− and Zar2^−/− oocytes, with some oocytes arrested at meiosis I (MI) and exhibiting abnormal spindles