Identification of an anti-sperm auto-monoclonal antibody (Ts4)-recognized molecule in the mouse sperm acrosomal region and its inhibitory effect on fertilization in vitro

2016 ◽  
Vol 115 ◽  
pp. 6-13
Author(s):  
Hiroshi Yoshitake ◽  
Risako Oda ◽  
Mitsuaki Yanagida ◽  
Yu Kawasaki ◽  
Mayumi Sakuraba ◽  
...  
Reproduction ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 144 (6) ◽  
pp. 687-697 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Beek ◽  
H Nauwynck ◽  
D Maes ◽  
A Van Soom

In this study, we report for the first time on a possible contribution of metalloproteases in sperm passage through the cumulus matrix in pigs. The presence of 20 μM 1,10-phenanthroline (1,10-PHEN), inhibitor of zinc-dependent metalloproteases, strongly inhibited the degree of sperm penetration in cumulus-intact (CI), but not in cumulus-free (CF), porcine oocytes during IVF. The inhibitory effect of 1,10-PHEN was due to the chelation of metal ions as a non-chelating analog (1,7-PHEN) did not affect IVF rates. Furthermore, incubation with 1,10-PHEN did not affect sperm binding to the zona pellucida nor sperm motility, membrane integrity, or acrosomal status. These findings led to the assumption that 1,10-PHEN interacts with a sperm- or cumulus-derived metalloprotease. Metalloproteases are key players in physiological processes involving degradation or remodeling of extracellular matrix. In vivo, their proteolytic activity is regulated by tissue inhibitors of metalloproteases (TIMP1–TIMP4). We tested the effect of TIMP3 on fertilization parameters after porcine IVF. Similar to 1,10-PHEN, TIMP3 inhibited total fertilization rate of CI but not CF oocytes and did not influence sperm quality parameters. Although the inhibitory effect was stronger in CI oocytes, TIMP3 also reduced the degree of sperm penetration in CF oocytes, suggesting the involvement of a metalloprotease in a subsequent step during fertilization. In conclusion, our results indicate the involvement of TIMP3-sensitive, zinc-dependent metalloprotease activity in sperm passage through the cumulus oophorus in pigs. The results should provide the basis for further biochemical research toward the localization and identification of the metalloprotease involved.


Reproduction ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 138 (3) ◽  
pp. 471-482 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mirjan Thys ◽  
Hans Nauwynck ◽  
Dominiek Maes ◽  
Maarten Hoogewijs ◽  
Dries Vercauteren ◽  
...  

Fibronectin (Fn) is a 440 kDa glycoprotein assumed to participate in sperm–egg interaction in human. Recently, it has been demonstrated that Fn – when present during bovine IVF – strongly inhibits sperm penetration. The present study was conducted firstly to evaluate the expression of Fn and its integrin receptor (α5β1) on male and female bovine gametes using indirect immunofluorescence and secondly, to determine the function of Fn during bovine IVF. Endogenous Fn was detected underneath the zona pellucida (ZP) and integrin α5 on the oolemma of cumulus-denuded oocytes. Bovine spermatozoa displayed integrin α5 at their equatorial segment after acrosome reaction. We established that the main inhibitory effect of exogenously supplemented Fn was located at the sperm–oolemma binding, with a (concurrent) effect on fusion, and this can probably be attributed to the binding of Fn to spermatozoa at the equatorial segment, as shown by means of Alexa Fluor 488-conjugated Fn. Combining these results, the inhibitory effect of exogenously supplemented Fn seemed to be exerted on the male gamete by binding to the exposed integrin α5β1 receptor after acrosome reaction. The presence of endogenous Fn underneath the ZP together with integrin α5 expression on oolemma and acrosome-reacted (AR) sperm cell surface suggests a ‘velcro’ interaction between the endogenous Fn ligand and corresponding receptors on both (AR) sperm cell and oolemma, initiating sperm–egg binding.


2008 ◽  
Vol 283 (18) ◽  
pp. 12438-12445 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariano G. Buffone ◽  
Tiangang Zhuang ◽  
Teri S. Ord ◽  
Ling Hui ◽  
Stuart B. Moss ◽  
...  

1994 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 221 ◽  
Author(s):  
K Suzuki ◽  
M Ebihara ◽  
T Nagai ◽  
NG Clarke ◽  
RA Harrison

Fertilization of pig oocytes was performed in vitro in modified Tyrode's media in which either HEPES or bicarbonate/CO2, or both, were included as buffer systems; caffeine (2 mM) was also included in some of the media because it is a reported stimulant of fertilization. The composition of the bicarbonate-containing media was designed so as to maintain the same pH and osmolality as bicarbonate-free media. The inclusion of bicarbonate during gamete co-incubation in caffeine-containing medium led to high levels of fertilization (66% of 238 mature oocytes were fertilized). However, essentially no fertilization occurred if bicarbonate was replaced with HEPES (0.7% of 146 oocytes were fertilized; significantly different, P < 0.001). Inclusion of HEPES in bicarbonate-containing medium during gamete co-incubation did not affect fertilization, showing that HEPES did not exert an inhibitory effect. Omission of bicarbonate during sperm preincubation also did not affect fertilization. If caffeine was included in bicarbonate-containing medium, 73% of 311 oocytes were fertilized whereas if caffeine was omitted only 14% of 326 oocytes were fertilized (significantly different, P < 0.001). In the absence of bicarbonate, when fertilization was very low, caffeine had no stimulatory effect. The results indicate that bicarbonate is essential for pig fertilization in vitro, but that caffeine exerts a synergistic stimulatory effect.


1999 ◽  
Vol 112 (9) ◽  
pp. 1291-1302 ◽  
Author(s):  
R.E. Palazzo ◽  
E.A. Vaisberg ◽  
D.G. Weiss ◽  
S.A. Kuznetsov ◽  
W. Steffen

Meiosis I spindle assembly is induced in lysate-extract mixtures prepared from clam (Spisula solidissima) oocytes. Unactivated lysate prepared from unactivated oocytes contain nuclei (germinal vesicles, GVs) which house condensed chromosomes. Treatment of unactivated lysate with clarified activated extract prepared from oocytes induced to complete meiosis by treatment with KCl induces GV breakdown (GVBD) and assembly of monopolar, bipolar, and multipolar aster-chromosome complexes. The process of in vitro meiosis I spindle assembly involves the assembly of microtubule asters and the association of these asters with the surfaces of the GVs, followed by GVBD and spindle assembly. Monoclonal antibody m74-1, known to react specifically with the N terminus of the intermediate chain of cytoplasmic dynein, recognizes Spisula oocyte dynein and inhibits in vitro meiosis I spindle assembly. Control antibody has no affect on spindle assembly. A similar inhibitory effect on spindle assembly was observed in the presence of orthovanadate, a known inhibitor of dynein ATPase activity. Neither m74-1 nor orthovanadate has any obvious affect on GVBD or aster formation. We propose that dynein function is required for the association of chromosomes with astral microtubules during in vitro meiosis I spindle assembly in these lysate-extract mixtures. However, we conclude that dynein function is not required for centrosome assembly and maturation or for centrosome-dependent aster formation.


1979 ◽  
Vol 83 (3) ◽  
pp. 544-555 ◽  
Author(s):  
P M Saling ◽  
B T Storey

We have developed an assay for detecting the acrosome reaction in mouse sperm using chlortetracycline (CTC) as a fluorescent probe. Sperm known to be intact with nonreacted acrosomes show CTC fluorescence in the presence of Ca2+ over the anterior portion of the sperm head on the plasma membrane covering the acrosome. Sperm which have undergone the acrosome reaction do not show fluorescence on the sperm head. Mouse sperm bind to zonae pellucidae of cumulus-free eggs in vitro in a Ca2+-dependent reaction; these sperm are intact by the CTC assay. Intact sperm bind to mechanically isolated zonae under the same conditions: the egg is apparently unnecessary for this inital reaction. Sperm suspensions, in which greater than 50% of the motile population had completed the acrosome reaction, were prepared by incubation in hyperosmolal medium followed by treatment with the divalent cation ionophore, A23187. Cumulus-free eggs challenged with such sperm suspensions preferentially bind intact sperm; acrosome-reacted sperm do not bind. We conclude that the plasma membrane of the mouse sperm is responsible for recognition of the egg's zona pellucida and that the obligatory sequence of reactions leading to fusion of mouse gametes is binding of the intact sperm to the zona pellucida, followed by the acrosome reaction at the zona surface, followed in turn by sperm penetration of the zona.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document