scholarly journals FLAGELLAR MOVEMENT AND ADENOSINE TRIPHOSPHATASE ACTIVITY IN SEA URCHIN SPERM EXTRACTED WITH TRITON X-100

1972 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara H. Gibbons ◽  
I. R. Gibbons

Extraction with 0 04% (w/v) Triton X-100 removes the flagellar membrane from sea urchin sperm while leaving the motile apparatus apparently intact When reactivated in a suitable medium containing exogenous adenosine triphosphate (ATP), nearly 100% of the sperm are motile and they swim in a manner resembling that of live sperm. Under standard conditions, with 1 mM ATP at 25°C, the reactivated sperm had an average frequency of 32 beats/sec and progressed forward a distance of 2.4 µm/beat; comparable figures for live sperm in seawater were 46 beats/sec and 3 9 µm/beat. The adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) activity of the reactivated sperm was measured with a pH-stat in the presence of oligomycin to inhibit residual mitochondrial ATPase. The motile sperm had an ATPase activity of 0.16 µmole Pi/(min x mg protein), while sperm that had been rendered non-motile by homogenizing had an activity of 0 045 µmole Pi/(min x mg protein). The difference between the ATPase activities of the motile and nonmotile sperm was tentatively interpreted as the amount of activity coupled to movement, and under optimal conditions it amounted to about 72% of the total ATPase activity Under some conditions the movement-coupled ATPase activity was proportional to the beat frequency, but it was possibly also affected by other wave parameters. The coupled ATPase activity decreased to almost zero when movement was prevented by raising the viscosity, or by changing the pH or salt concentration. The motility of reactivated sperm was wholly dependent on the presence of ATP; other nucleotides gave very low phosphatase activity and no movement. The requirement for a divalent cation was best satisfied with Mg++, although some motility was also obtained with Mn++ and Ca++. The coupled ATPase activity had a Michaelis constant (Km) of 0.15 mM. The beat frequency of the reactivated sperm varied with the ATP concentration, with an effective "Km" of 0.2 mM.

1977 ◽  
Vol 73 (1) ◽  
pp. 182-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
K Ogawa ◽  
D J Asai ◽  
C J Brokaw

Effects of an antiserum against native dynein 1 from sperm flagella of the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus were compared with effects of an antiserum previously obtained against an ATPase-active tryptic fragment (fragment 1A) of dynein 1 from sperm flagella of the sea urchin, Anthocidaris crassispina. Both antisera precipitate dynein 1 and do not precipitate dynein 2. Only the fragment 1A antiserum precipitates fragment 1A and produces a measurable inhibition of dynein 1 ATPase activity. Both antisera inhibit the movement and the movement-coupled ATP dephosphorylation of reactivated spermatozoa. The inhibition of movement by the antiserum against dynein 1 is much less than by the antiserum against fragment 1A, suggesting that a specific interference with the active ATPase site may be required for effective inhibition of movement. Both antisera reduce the bend angle as well as the beat frequency of reactivated S. purpuratus spermatozoa, suggesting that the bend angle may depend on the activity of the dynein arms which generate active sliding.


1973 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 337-357 ◽  
Author(s):  
BARBARA H. GIBBONS ◽  
I. R. GIBBONS

Sea-urchin sperm were extracted with o.5 M KCl for 45 s at room temperature in the presence of Triton X-100, and then transferred to reactivating solution containing 1 mM ATP. The flagellar beat frequency of these KCl-extracted sperm (16 beats/s) was only about half that of control Triton-extracted sperm that had not been exposed to 0.5 M KCl (31 beats/s), although the form of their bending waves was not significantly altered. Examination by electron microscopy showed that the extraction with 0.5 M KCl removed the majority of the outer arms from the doublet tubules, leaving the inner arms apparently intact. By varying the duration of the KCl-extraction, it was shown that the rate of decrease in beat frequency paralleled the rate of disappearance of the arms. Prolonging the extraction time beyond 45 s at room temperature, or 4 min at o °C, had little further effect on beat frequency. ATPase measurements suggested that 6o-65% of the dynein in the original axonemes had been solubilized when the extraction with KCl was permitted to go to completion. These results indicate that the generation and propagation of flagellar bending waves of essentially typical form are not prevented by the removal of the outer row of dynein arms from the doublet tubules. In terms of the sliding filament model of flagellar bending, the results suggest that the rate of sliding between tubules under these conditions is proportional to the number of dynein arms present. The lack of significant change in wave form implies that the total amount of sliding that occurs during each bending cycle is not affected by the reduced number of dynein arms, but is regulated independently in some manner by the elastic forces generated by other structures in the bent axoneme.


1983 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 231-249
Author(s):  
M.P. Cosson ◽  
W.J. Tang ◽  
I.R. Gibbons

Treatment of demembranated sea-urchin sperm for 1–2 min with 10 microM-N-ethylmaleimide (Mal-NEt) at pH 8.0 prior to reactivation with 1 mM-ATP causes the asymmetry of the flagellar waveform to become desensitized to the presence or absence of Ca2+ in the reactivating medium. In such sperm, changes in concentration of free Ca2+ between 10(−7) M and 10(−3) M have no effect on the asymmetry of the waveforms as measured by the turning rate of the sperm in radians per beat cycle, while the beat frequency and the propulsive efficiency of the waves remain unchanged from the values observed in control preparations not treated with MalNEt. A somewhat more prolonged treatment with MalNEt causes a progressive decrease in the bend angles of the flagellar waves, while the beat frequency and the wavelength still remain largely unchanged. Further extension of the treatment with MalNEt causes complete loss of motility. Little ATP-induced sliding of the doublet tubules is observed upon treatment with trypsin of sperm flagella that have been rendered non-motile with MalNEt. However, the preparations of solubilized dynein 1 obtained by 0.6 M-NaCl extraction of axonemes treated with MalNEt appear almost identical to those obtained from untreated axonemes, both in terms of the amount solubilized and in the specific ATPase activities of their latent and Triton-activated forms. These preparations also appear capable of restoring much of the beat frequency of dynein-1-depleted flagella. These results suggest that the observed desensitization to Ca2+ and decrease in bend angle result from the reaction of MalNEt with axonemal polypeptides that are not part of the dynein 1 particle extracted with 0.6 M-NaCl. The rate of ATP hydrolysis by demembranated sperm rendered non-motile with MalNEt remains relatively high, and it decreases about 50% when the flagella are broken by brief homogenization. This ‘homogenizer-sensitive’ ATPase activity appears to be derived from some flagellar regulatory mechanism, which controls the ATPase activity of intact non-motile axonemes.


1995 ◽  
Vol 198 (3) ◽  
pp. 645-653 ◽  
Author(s):  
C Shingyoji ◽  
K Yoshimura ◽  
D Eshel ◽  
K Takahashi ◽  
I R Gibbons

The heads of demembranated spermatozoa of the sea urchin Tripneustes gratilla, reactivated at different concentrations of ATP, were held by suction in the tip of a micropipette and vibrated laterally with respect to the head axis. This imposed vibration resulted in a stable rhythmic beating of the reactivated flagella that was synchronized to the frequency of the micropipette. The reactivated flagella, which in the absence of imposed vibration had an average beat frequency of 39 Hz at 2 mmol l-1 ATP, showed stable beating synchronized to the pipette vibration over a range of 20-70 Hz. Vibration frequencies above 70 Hz caused irregular, asymmetrical beating, while those below 20 Hz induced instability of the beat plane. At ATP concentrations of 10-100 mumol l-1, the range of vibration frequency capable of maintaining stable beating was diminished; an increase in ATP concentration above 2 mmol l-1 had no effect on the range of stable beating. In flagella reactivated at ATP concentrations above 100 mumol l-1, the apparent time-averaged sliding velocity of axonemal microtubules decreased when the imposed frequency was below the undriven flagellar beat frequency, but at higher imposed frequencies it remained constant, with the higher frequency being accompanied by a decrease in bend angle. This maximal sliding velocity at 2 mmol l-1 ATP was close to the sliding velocity in the distal region of live spermatozoa, possibly indicating that it represents an inherent limit in the velocity of active sliding.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


1974 ◽  
Vol 63 (3) ◽  
pp. 970-985 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara H. Gibbons ◽  
I. R. Gibbons

Sea urchin sperm were demembranated and reactivated with a solution containing 0.04% Triton X-100 and 0.03 mM ATP. The ATP concentration was then lowered abruptly by diluting the sperm suspension 50-fold into reactivating solution containing no ATP. The flagella of the sperm in the diluted suspension were not motile, but they were bent into a variety of stationary rigor wave forms closely resembling the wave forms occurring at different stages of the flagellar bending cycle during normal movement. The form of these rigor waves was unchanged upon storage for several hours in the presence of dithiothreitol and EDTA. Addition of 1 µM ATP induced slow relaxation of the waves, with most of the sperm becoming partially straightened over a period of about 30 min; somewhat higher concentrations gave a more rapid and complete relaxation. Concentrations of ATP above 10 µM induced resumption of normal beating movements. Addition of ITP, GTP, or GDP (up to 1 mM) produced no relaxation of the rigor waves. Digestion with trypsin to an extent sufficient to disrupt the radial spokes and the nexin links caused no change in the rigor wave forms, suggesting that these wave forms could be maintained by the dynein cross-bridges between the outer doublet tubules of the flagellar axoneme. Study of the effects of viscous shear on the rigor wave axonemes has shown that they are resistant to distortion by bending, although they can be twisted relatively easily.


1979 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-123
Author(s):  
M. Okuno ◽  
C.J. Brokaw

Three clinical patterns of inhibition of MgATP2—activated flagellar motility have been found by measuring the motility of Triton-demembranated sea-urchin spermatozoa beating with their heads attached to a glass surface. Inhibition of beat frequency by the reaction products, ADP and Pi, is competitive with the normal substrate, MgATP2-, and the inhibitory effects are similar to a reduction in MgATP2- concentration. Inhibition of beat frequency by ATP4- is competitive with MgATP2, but is accompanied by an inhibition of bending, as measured by the angle between the straight regions on either side of a bend, which is not seen when MgATP2- concentration is reduced. Inhibition of beat frequency by Mg2+ is not competitive with MgATP2-, and is accompanied by an increase in bend angle, so that there is no change in the rate of sliding between flagellar tubules. These differences suggest unexpected complexity of dynein ATPase action in flagella. The beat frequencies of both swimming and attached spermatozoa show a linear double reciprocal dependence on MgATP2- concentration, with identical slopes. The calculated sliding velocities between tubules also give linear relationships, but the slopes are different, suggesting that beat frequency may be the more fundamental dependent variable in this system.


1982 ◽  
Vol 92 (3) ◽  
pp. 706-713 ◽  
Author(s):  
K Ogawa ◽  
S Negishi ◽  
M Obika

The 0.5 M KCl-treatment solubilizes the outer arms from sea urchin sperm axonemes. Approximately 30 percent of A-polypeptide, corresponding to dynein 1 in SDS- polyacrylamide gel, was solubilized by this treatment (as SEA-dynein 1). Electron microscopic observation indicated that the extracted axonemes lacked the outer arms in various degrees. The DEA-dynein 1 was that the extracted axonemes lacked the outer arms in various degrees. The SEA-dyenin 1 was purified and an antiserum against it was prepared in rabbits. The specificity of antiserum to dynein 1 was determined by immunoelectrophoresis and ouchterlony's double-diffusion test. The anti-dynein 1 serum inhibited ATPase activity of purified SEA-dynein 1 by 95 percent. By the indirect peroxidase-conjugated antibody method, the loci of SEA-dynein 1 within the intact, salt- extracted and mechanically disrupted axonemes were determined to be the outer arms: deposition of electron-dense materials which represents their localization was detected at the distal ends of the outer arms, in the case of intact axonemes. The 5-6 cross- bridge was hardly decorated. No decoration was seen in the salt-extracted axonemes lacking all the outer arms. In disrupted axonemes, which consist of single to several peripheral doublets, electron-dense materials were deposited only on the outer arms. Approximately 73 percent of axonemal ATPase activity sensitive to antiserum was solubilized by repeated salt-extractions. One-half of A-polypeptide (SEA-dynein 1 located at the outer arms) was contained in the pooled extracts. The extracted axonemes contained another half of A-polypeptide (SUA-dynein 1 supposed to locate at the inner arms) and retained 31 percent of axonemal ATPase activity that was almost resistant to antiserum. Solubilized SUA-dynein 1 was immunologically the same as SEA-dynein 1. This result indicates that in situ SUA-dynein 1 did not receive anti-dynein 1 antibodies, coinciding with the result obtained for salt-extracted axonemes lacking all the outer arms by the enzyme-antibody method mentioned above. These observations suggest that immunological dissimilarity in dynein 1 between outer and inner arms but do not tell us that the inner arms do not contain dynein 1.


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