scholarly journals Identification of the sea urchin egg receptor for sperm using an antiserum raised against a fragment of its extracellular domain.

1992 ◽  
Vol 116 (3) ◽  
pp. 647-658 ◽  
Author(s):  
K R Foltz ◽  
W J Lennarz

Sea urchin egg fertilization requires the species-specific interaction of molecules on the sperm and egg surfaces. Previously, we isolated an extracellular, 70-kD glycosylated fragment of the S. purpuratus egg receptor for sperm by treating the eggs with lysylendoproteinase C (Foltz, K. R., and W. J. Lennarz. 1990. J. Cell Biol. 111:2951-2959). To characterize the receptor further, we have generated a polyclonal antiserum (anti-70KL) against the purified 70-kD fragment. Anti-70KL was found to react with a single polypeptide of approximately 350 kD on Western blots, presumed to be the intact receptor, in an egg cell surface preparation. This polypeptide appeared to be tightly associated with the plasma membrane/vitelline layer complex, as it was released from these preparations only by detergent treatment. Immunofluorescence microscopy revealed that the receptor was distributed evenly over the egg surface. The anti-70KL was species specific both in its ability to recognize the egg surface protein and to inhibit sperm binding. Fab fragments generated from affinity-purified anti-70KL also bound to the egg surface and inhibited sperm binding in a concentration-dependent manner. Interestingly, treatment with Fabs caused a small percentage of eggs to undergo cortical granule exocytosis, even in the absence of external Ca2+. These results confirm earlier findings indicating that the receptor is a cell surface glycoprotein of high molecular weight that species specifically binds sperm. This antiserum provides a powerful tool for further investigation of gamete interactions and the structure of the sperm receptor.

1996 ◽  
Vol 271 (12) ◽  
pp. 6694-6701 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shinobu Kitazume ◽  
Ken Kitajima ◽  
Sadako Inoue ◽  
Stuart M. Haslam ◽  
Howard R. Morris ◽  
...  

1993 ◽  
Vol 122 (4) ◽  
pp. 887-895 ◽  
Author(s):  
K Ohlendieck ◽  
ST Dhume ◽  
JS Partin ◽  
WJ Lennarz

The species-specific binding of sea urchin sperm to the egg is mediated by an egg cell surface receptor. Although earlier studies have resulted in the cloning and sequencing of the receptor, structure/function studies require knowledge of the structure of the mature cell surface protein. In this study, we report the purification of this glycoprotein to homogeneity from a cell surface complex of Strongylocentrotus purpuratus eggs using lectin and ion exchange chromatography. Based on the yield of receptor it can be calculated that each egg contains approximately 1.25 x 10(6) receptor molecules on its surface. The receptor, which has an apparent M(r) of 350 kD, is a highly glycosylated transmembrane protein composed of approximately 70% carbohydrate. Because earlier studies on the partially purified receptor and on a pure, extracellular fragment of the receptor indicated that the carbohydrate chains were important in sperm binding, we undertook compositional analysis of the carbohydrate in the intact receptor. These analyses and lectin binding studies revealed that the oligosaccharide chains of the receptor are sulfated and that both N- and O-linked chains are present. Functional analyses revealed that the purified receptor retained biological activity; it inhibited fertilization in a species-specific and dose-dependent manner, and polystyrene beads coated with it bound to acrosome-reacted sperm in a species-specific manner. The availability of biochemical quantities of this novel cell recognition molecule opens new avenues to studying the interaction of complementary cell surface ligands in fertilization.


2021 ◽  
Vol 118 (34) ◽  
pp. e2109636118
Author(s):  
Gary M. Wessel ◽  
Yuuko Wada ◽  
Mamiko Yajima ◽  
Masato Kiyomoto

Species-specific sperm−egg interactions are essential for sexual reproduction. Broadcast spawning of marine organisms is under particularly stringent conditions, since eggs released into the water column can be exposed to multiple different sperm. Bindin isolated from the sperm acrosome results in insoluble particles that cause homospecific eggs to aggregate, whereas no aggregation occurs with heterospecific eggs. Therefore, Bindin is concluded to play a critical role in fertilization, yet its function has never been tested. Here we report that Cas9-mediated inactivation of the bindin gene in a sea urchin results in perfectly normal-looking embryos, larvae, adults, and gametes in both males and females. What differed between the genotypes was that the bindin−/− sperm never fertilized an egg, functionally validating Bindin as an essential gamete interaction protein at the level of sperm–egg cell surface binding.


Author(s):  
G.L. Decker ◽  
M.C. Valdizan

A monoclonal antibody designated MAb 1223 has been used to show that primary mesenchyme cells of the sea urchin embryo express a 130-kDa cell surface protein that may be directly involved in Ca2+ uptake required for growth of skeletal spicules. Other studies from this laboratory have shown that the 1223 antigen, although in relatively low abundance, is also expressed on the cell surfaces of unfertilized eggs and on the majority of blastomeres formed prior to differentiation of the primary mesenchyme cells.We have studied the distribution of 1223 antigen in S. purpuratus eggs and embryos and in isolated egg cell surface complexes that contain the cortical secretory vesicles. Specimens were fixed in 1.0% paraformaldehyde and 1.0% glutaraldehyde and embedded in Lowicryl K4M as previously reported. Colloidal gold (8nm diameter) was prepared by the method of Mulpfordt.


1996 ◽  
Vol 134 (2) ◽  
pp. 329-338 ◽  
Author(s):  
S S Vogel ◽  
P S Blank ◽  
J Zimmerberg

We have investigated the consequences of having multiple fusion complexes on exocytotic granules, and have identified a new principle for interpreting the calcium dependence of calcium-triggered exocytosis. Strikingly different physiological responses to calcium are expected when active fusion complexes are distributed between granules in a deterministic or probabilistic manner. We have modeled these differences, and compared them with the calcium dependence of sea urchin egg cortical granule exocytosis. From the calcium dependence of cortical granule exocytosis, and from the exposure time and concentration dependence of N-ethylmaleimide inhibition, we determined that cortical granules do have spare active fusion complexes that are randomly distributed as a Poisson process among the population of granules. At high calcium concentrations, docking sites have on average nine active fusion complexes.


1986 ◽  
Vol 102 (6) ◽  
pp. 2205-2210 ◽  
Author(s):  
J A Oberdorf ◽  
J F Head ◽  
B Kaminer

Isolated cortices from unfertilized sea urchin eggs sequester calcium in an ATP-dependent manner when incubated in a medium containing free calcium levels characteristic of the resting cell (approximately 0.1 microM). This ATP-dependent calcium uptake activity was measured in the presence of 5 mM Na azide to prevent mitochondrial accumulation, was increased by oxalate, and was blocked by 150 microM quercetin and 50 microM vanadate (known inhibitors of calcium uptake into the sarcoplasmic reticulum). Cortical regions preloaded with 45Ca in the presence of ATP were shown to dramatically increase their rate of calcium efflux upon the addition of (a) the calcium ionophore A23187 (10 microM), (b) trifluoperazine (200 microM), (c) concentrations of free calcium that activated cortical granule exocytosis, and (d) the calcium mobilizing agent inositol trisphosphate. This pool of calcium is most likely sequestered in the portion of the egg's endoplasmic reticulum that remains associated with the cortical region during its isolation. We have developed a method for obtaining a high yield of purified microsomal vesicles from whole eggs. This preparation also demonstrates ATP-dependent calcium sequestering activity which increases in the presence of oxalate and has similar sensitivities to calcium transport inhibitors; however, the isolated microsomal vesicles did not show any detectable release of calcium when exposed to inositol trisphosphate.


1980 ◽  
Vol 87 (1) ◽  
pp. 248-254 ◽  
Author(s):  
W H Kinsey ◽  
G L Decker ◽  
W J Lennarz

The cell surface complex (Detering et al., 1977, J. Cell Biol. 75, 899-914) of the sea urchin egg consists of two subcellular organelles: the plasma membrane, containing associated peripheral proteins and the vitelline layer, and the cortical vesicles. We have now developed a method of isolating the plasma membrane from this complex and have undertaken its biochemical characterization. Enzymatic assays of the cell surface complex revealed the presence of a plasma membrane marker enzyme, ouabain-sensitive Na+/K+ ATPase, as well as two cortical granule markers, proteoesterase and ovoperoxidase. After separation from the cortical vesicles and purification on a sucrose gradient, the purified plasma membranes are recovered as large sheets devoid of cortical vesicles. The purified plasma membranes are highly enriched in the Na+/K+ ATPase but contain only very low levels of the proteoesterase and ovoperoxidase. Ultrastructurally, the purified plasma membrane is characterized as large sheets containing a "fluffy" proteinaceous layer on the external surface, which probably represent peripheral proteins, including remnants of the vitelline layer. Extraction of these membranes with Kl removes these peripheral proteins and causes the membrane sheets to vesiculate. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of the cell surface complex, plasma membranes, and Kl-extracted membranes indicates that the plasma membrane contains five to six major proteins species, as well as a large number of minor species, that are not extractable with Kl. The vitelline layer and other peripheral membrane components account for a large proportion of the membrane-associated protein and are represented by at least six to seven polypeptide components. The phospholipid composition of the Kl-extracted membranes is unique, being very rich in phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylinositol. Cholesterol was found to be a major component of the plasma membrane. Before Kl extraction, the purified plasma membranes retain the same species-specific sperm binding property that is found in the intact egg. This observation indicates that the sperm receptor mechanisms remain functional in the isolated, cortical vesicle-free membrane preparation.


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