scholarly journals Metabolic similarities between fertilization and phagocytosis. Conservation of a peroxidatic mechanism.

1979 ◽  
Vol 149 (4) ◽  
pp. 938-953 ◽  
Author(s):  
S J Klebanoff ◽  
C A Foerder ◽  
E M Eddy ◽  
B M Shapiro

At the time of fertilization, sea urchin eggs release a peroxidase which, together with H2O2 generated by a respiratory burst, is responsible for hardening of the fertilization membrane. We demonstrate here that the ovoperoxidase of unfertilized eggs is located in cortical granules and, after fertilization, is concentrated in the fertilization membrane. Fertilization of sea urchin eggs or their parthenogenetic activation with the ionophor A23187 also results in (a) the conversion of iodide to a trichloroacetic acid-precipitable form (iodination), (b) the deiodination of eggs exogenously labeled with myeloperoxidase and H2O2, (c) the degradation of thyroxine as measured by the recovery of the released radioiodine at the origin and in the inorganic iodide spot on paper chromatography, and (d) the conversion of estradiol to an alcohol-precipitable form (estrogen binding). The iodination reaction and the binding of estradio occurs predominantly in the fertilization membrane where the ovoperoxidase is concentrated. From the estimation of the kinetics of incorporation of iodine, we determine that the peroxidative system is active for 30 min after fertilization, long after hardening of the fertilization membrane is complete. Most of the bound iodine is lost during the hatching process. Iodination of albumin is catalyzed by the material released from the egg during fertilization, when combined with H2O2 and iodide. Iodination, thyroxine degradation, and estradiol binding are inhibited by azide, cyanide, aminotriazole, methimazole, ascorbic acid and ergothioneine, all of which can inhibit peroxidase-catalyzed reactions. These responses of the sea urchin egg to fertilization are strikingly similar to the changes induced in polymorphonuclear leukocytes by phagocytosis and, in both instances, a peroxidative mechanism may be involved.

Author(s):  
S. Inoue ◽  
E. C. Preddie ◽  
P. Guerrier

From electron microscope studies of thin sections the sea urchin egg is known to be surrounded by the peripheral membrane system which is made up of the outer coat (vitelline membrane), which elevates from an egg surface after fertilization and becomes a part of the fertilization membrane, and the plasma membrane. In these experiments an effort has been made to isolate plasma membranes of sea urchin eggs and these isolated membranes were observed in the electron microscope.The vitelline membrane of the eggs from the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus was at first digested away by the treatment with 0.02% trypsin in 0.01 M Tris-HCl buffer (pH 8.0) for 5 minutes at 28°C. The plasma membranes were then isolated according to the method of Song et al. which was used for the isolation of rat liver plasma membranes. The vitelline membrane-free eggs were gently homogenized in 10-3 M NaHC03 (pH 7.5) and freed membranes were collected by centrifugation over a discontinuous sucrose gradient preparation.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Konstantin Yakovlev ◽  
Yulia O. Kipryushina ◽  
Mariia A. Maiorova

The sea urchin egg cortex is a peripheral region of eggs consisting of cell membrane and adjacent cytoplasm, which contains actin and tubulin cytoskeleton, cortical granules and some proteins required for early development. Method for isolation of cortices from sea urchin eggs and early embryos has been developed in 70s of 20th Century. Since that time this method has been reliable tool to study protein localization and cytoskeletal organization in cortex of unfertilized eggs and embryos during first cleavages. This study is an estimation of reliability of RT-qPCR to analyze levels of maternal transcripts that are localized in egg cortex. Firstly, we selected seven potential reference genes, 28S, Cycb , Ebr1 , GAPDH , Hmg1 , Smtnl1 and Ubb , which transcripts are maternally deposited in sea urchin eggs. The candidate reference genes were ranked by five different algorithms (BestKeeper, CV, ΔCt, geNorm and NormFinder) upon calculated level stability in both eggs and isolated cortices. Our results show that gene ranking differs in total RNA and mRNA samples, though Ubb is most suitable reference gene in both cases. To validate feasibility of comparative analysis of eggs and isolated egg cortices by RT-qPCR, we selected Daglb-2 as a gene of interest, which transcripts potentially localized in cortex, and found increased level of Daglb -2 in egg cortices. This suggests that proposed RNA isolation method with subsequent quantitative RT-qPCR analysis can be used to approve cortical association of transcripts in sea urchin eggs.


1996 ◽  
Vol 315 (3) ◽  
pp. 721-725 ◽  
Author(s):  
Armando A. GENAZZANI ◽  
Antony GALIONE

Nicotinic acid–adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NAADP) is a novel intracellular Ca2+ releasing agent recently described in sea-urchin eggs and egg homogenates. Ca2+ release by NAADP is independent of that induced by either inositol trisphosphate (InsP3) or cyclic adenosine dinucleotide phosphate (cADPR). We now report that in sea urchin egg homogenates, NAADP releases Ca2+ from a Ca2+ pool that is distinct from those that are sensitive to InsP3 and cADPR. This organelle has distinct Ca2+ uptake characteristics: it is insensitive to thapsigargin and cyclopiazoic acid, but maintenance of the pool shows some requirement for ATP. Although the different Ca2+ pools have different characteristics, there appears to be some degree of overlap or cross-talk between the NAADP- and cADPR/InsP3-sensitive Ca2+ pools. Ca2+-induced Ca2+ release is unlikely to account for the apparent overlap between stores, since NAADP-induced Ca2+ release, in contrast with that stimulated by cADPR, is not potentiated by bivalent cations.


1992 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Sardet ◽  
I. Gillot ◽  
A. Ruscher ◽  
P. Payan ◽  
J.-P. Girard ◽  
...  

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.


Development ◽  
1953 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 261-262
Author(s):  
Sven Hörstadius

Dr. I. Joan Lorch, of King's College, London, and I have made some experiments on sea-urchin eggs with desoxynucleic acids (DNA) prepared from sperms of several sea-urchin species by Professor Erwin Chargaff, of Columbia University, New York. Unfertilized eggs did not react when put into a solution of DNA in sea-water. Injection of a small amount of DNA dissolved in Callan's solution had the following consequences. If the DNA did not mix with the cytoplasm but remained as a distinct droplet, the egg could be fertilized. The droplet moved slowly towards the surface and ran out of the egg. This sometimes only occurred after several cleavages. Such eggs developed normally. If, on the other hand, the DNA mixed with the cytoplasm the egg became activated. A fertilization membrane was raised. The surface layer in dark field changed in colour from yellow to white as is the case upon fertilization.


1954 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 208-217
Author(s):  
MARTYNAS YČAS

1. Activity corresponding to phosphoglucomutase, phosphohexoisomerase, aldolase, triosephosphate dehydrogenase, enolase and lactic dehydrogenase has been demonstrated in homogenates prepared from unfertilized sea-urchin eggs (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus and Lytechinus pictus). 2. The presence of cytochromes a and b1 has been confirmed. These cytochromes sediment in a relatively low centrifugal field. 3. No cytochrome c could be demonstrated, although cytochrome c is both reduced and oxidized by homogenates, and addition of cytochrome c increases the endogenous respiration and oxidation of succinate. 4. These results support the view that the usual glycolytic pathway operates in the sea-urchin egg and is the principal route of oxidation of carbohydrate.


1993 ◽  
pp. 356-358
Author(s):  
Nozomi Nagano ◽  
Kazuki Saito ◽  
Masaru Toriyama ◽  
Masakatsu Imoto ◽  
Terumi Nakajima

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