scholarly journals Modifications of anionic-lipid domains preceding membrane fusion in guinea pig sperm.

1982 ◽  
Vol 92 (3) ◽  
pp. 604-615 ◽  
Author(s):  
E L Bearer ◽  
D S Friend
Keyword(s):  
Plasma Membrane ◽  
Guinea Pig ◽  
Membrane Fusion ◽  
Acrosome Reaction ◽  
Lipid Extraction ◽  
Surface Coat ◽  
Lipid Domains ◽  
Membrane Function ◽  
Anionic Lipid ◽  
Sperm Membrane

The relationship between anionic-lipid concentration and the functional properties of plasma-membrane domains was explored using the guinea-pig sperm membrane as a model, with polymyxin B (PXB) as a probe. Areas of plasmalemma specialized for fusion during the acrosome reaction had a higher affinity for the probe than adjacent nonfusigenic regions. In addition, capacitation--a process preceding acrosome:plasma-membrane fusion--markedly enlarged the area susceptible to PXB binding over the acrosomal cap. Protease treatment mimicked capacitation by increasing the acrosome-reaction incidence as well as PXB binding, at enzyme concentrations not affecting the surface coat nor altering filipin/sterol localization. Both proteolytic digestion and capacitation failed to augment PXB- or filipin-affinity in nonfusigenic zones, such as the post-acrosomal segment, including its particle-free maculae. Incubation of sperm in capacitating medium supplemented with 32P-labeled phosphate, followed by lipid extraction, thin-layer chromatography, and autoradiography, revealed a radioactive band comigrating with cardiolipin and phosphatidic acid. Vermiform protrusions elicited by PXB in the outer lamellae of cardiolipin-phosphatidylcholine liposomes resembled those seen in fusional regions of sperm membrane. We conclude that (a) differing concentrations of anionic lipids are found in adjacent domains of the sperm plasma membrane; (b) these domains mirror the functional regions of the membrane, with higher anionic-lipid concentrations localized over fusional zones; (c) the surface coat does not participate in the maintenance of such domains; (d) anionic-lipid synthesis may contribute to their formation; and (e) anionic-lipid concentrations increase as the membrane becomes fusionally competent, indicating that cellular modulation of lipid domains accompanies regulation of membrane function.

scholarly journals Sodium requirement for capacitation and membrane fusion during the guinea-pig sperm acrosome reaction

Reproduction ◽  
1984 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. V. Hyne ◽  
R. E. Higginson ◽  
D. Kohlman ◽  
A. Lopata
Keyword(s):  
Guinea Pig ◽  
Membrane Fusion ◽  
Acrosome Reaction ◽  
Sperm Acrosome Reaction ◽  
Sperm Acrosome

scholarly journals Calpain modulates capacitation and acrosome reaction through cleavage of the spectrin cytoskeleton

Reproduction ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 140 (5) ◽  
pp. 673-684 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yadira Bastián ◽  
Ana L Roa-Espitia ◽  
Adela Mújica ◽  
Enrique O Hernández-González
Keyword(s):  
Plasma Membrane ◽  
Guinea Pig ◽  
Acrosome Reaction ◽  
Mammalian Species ◽  
Physiological Changes ◽  
Signal Transducer ◽  
Mammalian Sperm ◽  
Important Player ◽  
Calpain 2 ◽  
Spectrin Cytoskeleton

Research on fertilization in mammalian species has revealed that Ca2+is an important player in biochemical and physiological events enabling the sperm to penetrate the oocyte. Ca2+is a signal transducer that particularly mediates capacitation and acrosome reaction (AR). Before becoming fertilization competent, sperm must experience several molecular, biochemical, and physiological changes where Ca2+plays a pivotal role. Calpain-1 and calpain-2 are Ca2+-dependent proteases widely studied in mammalian sperm; they have been involved in capacitation and AR but little is known about their mechanism. In this work, we establish the association of calpastatin with calpain-1 and the changes undergone by this complex during capacitation in guinea pig sperm. We found that calpain-1 is relocated and translocated from cytoplasm to plasma membrane (PM) during capacitation, where it could cleave spectrin, one of the proteins of the PM-associated cytoskeleton, and facilitates AR. The aforementioned results were dependent on the calpastatin phosphorylation and the presence of extracellular Ca2+. Our findings underline the contribution of the sperm cytoskeleton in the regulation of both capacitation and AR. In addition, our findings also reveal one of the mechanisms by which calpain and calcium exert its function in sperm.

scholarly journals Membrane particle changes attending the acrosome reaction in guinea pig spermatozoa

1977 ◽  
Vol 74 (2) ◽  
pp. 561-577 ◽  
Author(s):  
DS Friend ◽  
L Orci ◽  
A Perrelet ◽  
R Yanagimachi
Keyword(s):  
Plasma Membrane ◽  
Guinea Pig ◽  
Acrosome Reaction ◽  
Plasma Membranes ◽  
Freeze Fracture ◽  
Phosphatidylcholine Liposomes ◽  
Acrosomal Membrane ◽  
Large Particles ◽  
Fracture Appearance ◽  
Preparatory Stage

To examine the freeze-fracture appearance of membrane alterations accompanying the preparation of sperm membranes for fusions-the first preparatory stage occurring before physiological release of the acrosomal content, the second afterward-we induced the acrosome reaction in capacitated guinea pig spermatozoa by adding calcium to the mixture. The most common features observed before fusion of the acrosomal and plasma membranes were the deletion of fibrillar intramembranous particles from the E-fracture faces of both membranes, and the clearance of globular particles from the P face of the plasma membrane-events taking place near the terminus of the equatorial segment. Large particles, >12nm, remained not far from the cleared E-face patches. The P face of the outer acrosomal membrane is virtually clear from the outset. In addition, when fusion was completed, occasional double lines of large particles transiently embossed the P face of the plasma membrane (postacrosomal) side of the fusion zone. Behind the line of fusion, another series of particle-cleared foci emerged. We interpreted these postfusion membrane clearances as a second adaptation for sperm-egg interaction. Induction of the acrosome reaction in media containing phosphatidylcholine liposomes resulted in their apparent attachment, incorporation, or exchange in both the originally and secondarily cleared regions. Our observations support the concepts that membranes become receptive to union at particle- deficient interfaces, and that the physiologically created barren areas in freeze-fracture replicas may herald incipient membrane fusion.

scholarly journals The effect of permeant and impermeant osmoticants on exocytosis in guinea pig sperm

1991 ◽  
Vol 100 (4) ◽  
pp. 761-769
Author(s):  
D.P. Green
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Guinea Pig ◽  
Membrane Fusion ◽  
Acrosome Reaction ◽  
Ammonium Acetate ◽  
Ammonium Acetate Solution ◽  
Acetate Solution ◽  
Normal Medium ◽  
Acrosomal Membrane ◽  
External Calcium

Guinea pig sperm were suspended in calcium-containing medium supplemented with various concentrations of the tetrasaccharide, stachyose. At concentrations up to and including 0.6 M, stachyose was without effect on the A23187-induced acrosome reaction. At 1.0 M stachyose, greater than 97% of sperm retained their acrosome after exposure to A23187, as judged by light microscopy. Electron microscopy demonstrated, however, that exocytotic membrane fusion had occurred, although with substantial retention of the acrosomal matrix. Sperm incubated in 1.0 M stachyose solutions also underwent exocytotic membrane fusion in the absence of A23187 and external calcium. Sperm suspended in 0.175 M ammonium chloride solution progressively lost motility over 30 min, but without acrosomal swelling. By contrast, sperm in 0.19 M ammonium acetate underwent substantial swelling of the acrosome within 2–5 min. 70–80% of these sperm were able to exclude the vital dye propidium iodide with their acrosomes swollen. These sperm underwent acrosomal shrinkage if resuspended in normal medium within 5–10 min, and the majority (60–70%) recovered some motility. These sperm could undergo an A23187-induced acrosome reaction. Electron microscopy indicated that swelling in ammonium acetate solution solubilizes much of the acrosomal matrix and causes internal fusion between adjacent regions of the outer acrosomal membrane. There was no exocytotic membrane fusion in ammonium acetate solution, however. The evidence suggests that there is no stachyose osmolality for guinea pig sperm which will suppress the membrane fusion associated with exocytosis, and that sufficiently high osmolalities cause exocytotic membrane fusion in the absence of calcium.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Monoclonal antibodies which recognize equatorial segment epitopes presented de novo following the A23187-induced acrosome reaction of guinea pig sperm

1995 ◽  
Vol 108 (2) ◽  
pp. 767-777 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.A. Allen ◽  
D.P. Green
Keyword(s):  
Monoclonal Antibodies ◽  
Plasma Membrane ◽  
Guinea Pig ◽  
Acrosome Reaction ◽  
De Novo ◽  
Convex Surface ◽  
Fluorescein Isothiocyanate ◽  
Ultrastructural Level ◽  
Immunogold Labelling ◽  
Cytoplasmic Face

Acrosome-intact mammalian sperm can adhere to zona pellucida-free oocytes but are only capable of fusing if they have previously undergone the acrosome reaction. This suggests that the acrosome reaction results in presentation of at least one novel epitope which plays a role in sperm-oocyte fusion. Monoclonal antibodies were raised against unfixed acrosome-reacted guinea pig sperm and screened by indirect immunofluorescence for binding to the equatorial segment. They were back-screened against unfixed acrosome-intact sperm for absence of binding. Using this approach, two antibodies, G11 and M13, were identified which detect equatorial segment epitopes presented de novo by sperm following an A23187-induced acrosome reaction. The localization of these epitopes to the equatorial segment was confirmed at the ultrastructural level by indirect immunogold-labelling. Fluorescein isothiocyanate-labelled Fab fragments of these two antibodies also localized to the equatorial segment. Affinity chromatography and western blotting established that the two mAbs recognize the same proteins, which have M(r)s of 34, 46, 48 and 51 × 10(3). When sperm were induced to undergo the acrosome reaction with A23187 and incubated with their discharged acrosomal contents, a further band was produced with an M(r) of 30 × 10(3). Production of this band was inhibited in the combined presence of 100 microM phenylmethylsulphonyl fluoride and 100 microM p-aminobenzamidine even though these compounds do not inhibit acrosomal exocytosis. Neuraminidase and O-glycosidase were without effect on the proteins detected by antibodies G11 and M13. Endoglycosidase F, however, eliminated the bands of M(r) 46, 48 and 51 × 10(3) and replaced them with a strong band of M(r) 44 × 10(3) and two minor bands of M(r) 43 and 45 × 10(3). Formaldehyde fixation of acrosome-intact sperm caused partial rupture of the acrosome with loss of the characteristic rouleaux (stacks) of guinea pig sperm. Indirect labelling of these formaldehyde-fixed sperm with fluorescein isothiocyanate- or gold-labelled second antibody, with or without permeabilization with 0.05% Triton X-100, showed dense labelling on the cytoplasmic face of the plasma membrane overlying the convex surface of the acrosome but little labelling elsewhere. Cryosections of acrosome-intact sperm labelled indirectly with immuno-gold showed labelling consistent with the same location, as well as sporadic labelling at other intracellular sites overlying the acrosome. Since there is no evidence that sperm can translocate intact membrane protein from the cytoplasmic face to the extracellular face of the plasma membrane during the acrosome reaction, the evidence suggests that there are two isolated antigen pools.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Proteases are not involved in the membrane fusion events of the lysolecithin-mediated guinea pig sperm acrosome reaction

1993 ◽  
Vol 104 (1) ◽  
pp. 163-172
Author(s):  
S.P. Flaherty ◽  
N.J. Swann
Keyword(s):  
Guinea Pig ◽  
Membrane Fusion ◽  
Protease Inhibitors ◽  
Acrosome Reaction ◽  
Structural Pattern ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Bean Trypsin Inhibitor ◽  
Specific Protease ◽  
Sperm Acrosome Reaction ◽  
Sperm Acrosome

The guinea pig sperm acrosome reaction is characterized by a complex temporal and structural pattern of membrane fusions. In this study, we have used specific protease inhibitors to determine if proteases regulate this pattern of membrane fusions during the lysolecithin-mediated guinea pig sperm acrosome reaction. Inhibitors were chosen so as to cover a wide range of different types of proteases, and all were used at the highest concentration that did not adversely affect sperm motility. Of the eight inhibitors tested, leupeptin, soya bean trypsin inhibitor (SBTI), p-aminobenzamidine (pAB) and nitrophenyl p'-guanidino benzoate (NPGB) inhibited completion of the acrosome reaction, while diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA), phosphoramidon, bestatin and pepstatin had no effect. Sperm that had been acrosome-reacted in the presence of each inhibitor were examined by transmission electron microscopy to assess whether the inhibitors altered the pattern of membrane fusions during the acrosome reaction. DTPA, phosphoramidon, bestatin and pepstatin had no effect on membrane fusion or matrix dispersal. Serine protease inhibitors such as leupeptin, SBTI, pAB and NPGB prevented complete dispersal of the acrosomal matrix and completion of the acrosome reaction, but did not alter the temporal sequence or structural pattern of membrane fusions. The undispersed matrix was present along the dorsal and ventral aspects of the apical segment and throughout the principal segment. We conclude that proteases are not involved in regulating the temporal and structural pattern of membrane fusions which occurs during the lysolecithin-mediated acrosome reaction of guinea pig sperm.

scholarly journals Evidence for involvement of metalloendoproteases in a step in sea urchin gamete fusion.

1988 ◽  
Vol 107 (2) ◽  
pp. 539-544 ◽  
Author(s):  
J L Roe ◽  
H A Farach ◽  
W J Strittmatter ◽  
W J Lennarz
Keyword(s):  
Plasma Membrane ◽  
Membrane Fusion ◽  
Sea Urchin ◽  
Acrosome Reaction ◽  
Fusion Process ◽  
Cortical Granule ◽  
Cortical Granules ◽  
Gamete Fusion ◽  
Cortical Granule Exocytosis ◽  
Cytoplasmic Continuity

Membrane fusion events are required in three steps in sea urchin fertilization: the acrosome reaction in sperm, fusion of the plasma membrane of acrosome-reacted sperm with the plasma membrane of the egg, and exocytosis of the contents of the egg cortical granules. We recently reported the involvement of a Zn2+-dependent metalloendoprotease in the acrosome reaction (Farach, H. C., D. I. Mundy, W. J. Strittmatter, and W. J. Lennarz. 1987. J. Biol. Chem. 262:5483-5487). In the current study, we investigated the possible involvement of metalloendoproteases in the two other fusion events of fertilization. The use of inhibitors of metalloendoproteases provided evidence that at least one of the fusion events subsequent to the acrosome reaction requires such enzymes. These inhibitors did not block the binding of sperm to egg or the process of cortical granule exocytosis. However, sperm-egg fusion, assayed by the ability of the bound sperm to establish cytoplasmic continuity with the egg, was inhibited by metalloendoprotease substrate. Thus, in addition to the acrosome reaction, an event in the gamete fusion process requires a metalloendoprotease.

scholarly journals The course of the acrosome reaction in guinea-pig sperm

1982 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 161-171
Author(s):  
D.P. Green
Keyword(s):  
Guinea Pig ◽  
Membrane Fusion ◽  
Osmotic Pressure ◽  
Acrosome Reaction ◽  
Plasma Membranes ◽  
Calcium Ionophore ◽  
Colloid Osmotic Pressure ◽  
Calcium Ionophore A23187 ◽  
Ionophore A23187 ◽  
Sequence Of Events

The acrosome reaction in guinea-pig sperm is accompanied by a marked cavitation of the acrosomal contents. Two divergent views are held as to whether this cavitation precedes or follows the membrane fusion that occurs in the reaction. To distinguish between these 2 views cavitation was induced in media containing a colloid, either Ficoll 70 or inulin, either by inducing a normal acrosome reaction using the calcium ionophore A23187 or by using the detergent Triton X100. Both Ficoll 70 and inulin, when incorporated into media of normal osmolality, were able to suppress various features of the cavitation. Complete retention of acrosomal shape was achieved in sperm treated with detergent in 30% (W/V) Ficoll 70 solution despite the absence of the limiting acrosomal and plasma membranes. This evidence supports the suggestion that the cause of the cavitation is a colloid osmotic pressure within the acrosomal matrix. This in turn supports one of the 2 proposed mechanisms for the temporal sequence of events occurring in the acrosome reaction.

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