Juno also known as folate receptor 4, folate receptor delta or IZUMO1R is a protein that in humans is encoded by the FOLR4 gene. Juno is a member of the folate receptor family and is located on the surface of the mammalian egg cell that recognizes its sperm-riding counterpart, IZUMO1, and facilitates fertilization. The protein was named after Juno, the Roman goddess of fertility and marriage.

After the initial fertilisation stage, a sudden decrease of Juno from the egg cell surface occurs and Juno becomes virtually undetectable after just 40 minutes. Still, after fertilization via intracytoplasmic sperm injection, the egg cell does not lose cell-surface expression of Juno, which suggests that Juno contributes to the prevention of polyspermy. Mice lacking Juno on the surface of their egg cells are infertile because their egg cells do not fuse with normal sperm, demonstrating Juno's essential role in the fertility of female mice.

Discovery

Based on a sequence homology search for genes relate to the folate receptor, the gene for folate receptor 4 was first identified in mice and humans in 2000 at the University of Nebraska.

Juno may refer to:

Biology

Film and television

Literature

Music

June (ⁱ/dʒuːn/ joon) is the sixth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and one of the four months with a length of 30 days. June is the month with the longest daylight hours of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and the shortest daylight hours of the year in the Southern Hemisphere. June in the Northern Hemisphere is the seasonal equivalent to December in the Southern Hemisphere and vice versa. In the Northern hemisphere, the beginning of the astronomical summer is 21 June (meteorological summer begins on 1 June). In the Southern hemisphere, the beginning of the astronomical winter is 21 June (meteorological winter begins on 1 June).

At the start of June, the sun rises in the constellation of Taurus; at the end of June, the sun rises in the constellation of Gemini. However, due to the precession of the equinoxes, June begins with the sun in the astrological sign of Gemini, and ends with the sun in the astrological sign of Cancer.

Juno was an American indie rock band formed in Seattle in 1995. They released two studio albums, disbanding in 2003.

Career

Juno released their debut album This Is the Way It Goes and Goes and Goes as a co-release on DeSoto Records and Pacifico Records on March 30, 1999. Their second album A Future Lived in Past Tense was released May 8, 2001 on Desoto Records. The band was critically acclaimed by various local and national music journals and has toured throughout the US, Europe and Japan. The band also released a split EP with The Dismemberment Plan on Desoto Records which included a cover of DJ Shadow's "High Noon".

The band is now officially defunct. Travis Saunders the bassist left the band in 2000. They had played with and auditioned a few different bassists (including Nate Mendel of Foo Fighters, Sunny Day Real Estate and Nick Harmer of Death Cab for Cutie), but ultimately decided that they were going in different directions artistically.

Currently some of the former members are working on Ghost Wars, a recording project led by Carstens and Eric Fisher.