scholarly journals 64. Analysis of the mechanism by which calcium negatively regulates the tyrosine phosphorylation cascade associated with sperm capacitation

2003 ◽  
Vol 15 (9) ◽  
pp. 64
Author(s):  
Mark A. Baker ◽  
Louise Hetherington ◽  
Heath Ecroyd ◽  
R. John Aitken
Reproduction ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 132 (5) ◽  
pp. 721-732 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Grasa ◽  
José Álvaro Cebrián-Pérez ◽  
Teresa Muiño-Blanco

We validate the chlortetracycline (CTC) technique for the evaluation of capacitation and acrosome reaction-like changes in ram sperm, carrying out a double estimation of the acrosome status after treatment with lysophosphatidylcholine, using fluorescein isocyanate (FITC)-RCA/ethidium homodimer 1 (EthD-1) and CTC/EthD-1. Highly consistent results and a positive correlation between the results of acrosome-reacted sperm evaluated with both techniques were obtained. In this study, we evaluate the effects of ram sperm capacitation of BSA, Ca2+, NaHCO3and cAMP agonists and their influence on the associated protein tyrosine phosphorylation. We found a time-dependent increase in capacitation related to protein tyrosine phosphorylation, either in the absence or the presence of BSA. The addition of an increasing concentration of cholesterol to samples containing BSA did not influence results. The effect of bicarbonate was concentration-dependent, with a significantly lowered value of non-capacitated sperm in the presence 18 and 25 mM. The addition of extracellular calcium did not significantly increase either the proportion of capacitated sperm or the protein tyrosine phosphorylation signalling, although a significantly higher value of acrosome-reacted sperm was found in samples containing 4 mM Ca2+. cAMP agonists increased capacitated sperm and protein tyrosine phosphorylation signalling. The inhibition of protein kinase A by H-89 caused a decrease in sperm capacitation. Addition of a calcium-entry blocker (Verapamil; Sigma) did not influence results, which suggests that the calcium entry blocker was unable to inhibit the calcium influx associated with capacitation in ram sperm. Our findings might benefit our understanding of the biochemical mechanisms involved in mammalian sperm capacitation and ultimately, fertility.


2008 ◽  
Vol 20 (9) ◽  
pp. 116
Author(s):  
L. A. Mitchell ◽  
B. Nixon ◽  
M. A. Baker ◽  
R. J. Aitken

Capacitation is a pre-requisite for mammalian spermatozoa allowing them to gain the ability to fertilise an oocyte. A fundamental part of this mechanism is a dramatic increase in tyrosine phosphorylation. Implicated in this process in the mouse is a unique cAMP/PKA-mediated pathway involving a PKA-activated tyrosine kinase suggested to be pp60c-src (SRC). The Src kinases examined were predominantly expressed in the human sperm tail, a site compatible with a role in mediating the capacitation-associated tyrosine phosphorylation cascade. Co-immunoprecipitation revealed that PKA-c could be isolated from sperm and this interaction was restricted to capacitated cells, suggesting PKA-mediated activation of SRC forms an integral part of the signalling cascade assembled during capacitation. Upon activation, SRC undergoes autophosphorylation of Y416 and thus phosphorylation of this residue indicates the presence of active SRC kinase. The phosphorylation status of SRC was compared using both 2D-immunoblotting and immunocytochemical studies, both revealing a significant increase in SRC activation during capacitation. Furthermore, suppression of PKA and SRC through application of SU6656, or H89, a PKA inhibitor, led to a dramatic decrease in tyrosine phosphorylation and SRC activity. In conclusion, this study has provided evidence for the involvement of non-receptor tyrosine kinase, SRC, in regulating tyrosine phosphorylation associated with capacitation. Inhibition of SRC did not completely suppress tyrosine phosphorylation suggesting this complex signal transduction pathway exhibits a degree of functional redundancy.


2018 ◽  
Vol 234 (4) ◽  
pp. 5276-5288 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolás Gastón Brukman ◽  
Sol Yanel Nuñez ◽  
Lis del Carmen Puga Molina ◽  
Mariano Gabriel Buffone ◽  
Alberto Darszon ◽  
...  

Development ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 121 (4) ◽  
pp. 1129-1137 ◽  
Author(s):  
P.E. Visconti ◽  
J.L. Bailey ◽  
G.D. Moore ◽  
D. Pan ◽  
P. Olds-Clarke ◽  
...  

The molecular basis of mammalian sperm capacitation, defined functionally as those processes that confer on the sperm the acquisition of fertilization-competence either in vivo in the female reproductive tract or in vitro, is poorly understood. We demonstrate here that capacitation of caudal epididymal mouse sperm in vitro is accompanied by a time-dependent increase in the protein tyrosine phosphorylation of a subset of proteins of M(r) 40,000-120,000. Incubation of sperm in media devoid of bovine serum albumin, CaCl2 or NaHCO3, components which individually are required for capacitation, prevent the sperm from undergoing capacitation as assessed by the ability of the cells to acquire the pattern B chlortetracycline fluorescence, to undergo the zona pellucida-induced acrosome reaction and, in some cases, to fertilize metaphase II-arrested eggs in vitro. In each of these cases the protein tyrosine phosphorylation of the subset of capacitation-associated proteins does not occur. Protein tyrosine phosphorylation of these particular proteins, as well as sperm capacitation, can be recovered in media devoid of each of these three constituents (bovine serum albumin, CaCl2 or NaHCO3) by adding back the appropriate component in a concentration-dependent manner. The requirement of NaHCO3 for these phosphorylations is not due to an alkalinization of intracellular sperm pH or to an increase in media pH. Caput epididymal sperm, which lack the ability to undergo capacitation in vitro, do not display this capacitation-dependent subset of tyrosine phosphorylated proteins in complete media even after extended incubation periods, and do not fertilize metaphase II-arrested eggs in vitro.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


2006 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 155 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Galantino-Homer ◽  
W. Zeng ◽  
S. Megee ◽  
M. Modelski ◽  
I. Dobrinski

Porcine sperm are extremely sensitive to the damaging effects of cold shock and cryopreservation. Cholesterol-binding molecules, such as 2-hydroxypropyl-�-cyclodextrin (HBCD), improve post-thaw and post-cooling porcine sperm viability when added to an egg yolk-based extender, but also enhance sperm capacitation in other species. Depending upon the environmental cholesterol content, HBCD can act either as a cholesterol shuttle or sink to increase or decrease, respectively, sperm plasma membrane cholesterol content. Increasing the sperm cholesterol to phospholipid ratio reduces cold shock sensitivity whereas decreasing the ratio initiates the process of sperm capacitation. An increase in protein tyrosine phosphorylation correlates with sperm capacitation and has been shown to be dependent upon the presence of extracellular calcium. Sperm intracellular calcium also increases during cold shock. The objective of this study was to determine the combined effects of extracellular calcium and membrane cholesterol manipulation on porcine sperm viability and protein tyrosine phosphorylation following cold shock (10�C for 10 min). Viability was assessed using CFDA/propidium iodide staining. Protein tyrosine phosphorylation, previously shown to correlate with porcine sperm capacitation, was evaluated via antiphosphotyrosine (clone 4G10) immunoblots. We report here that following cold shock, porcine sperm incubated in defined medium containing both 0.8 mM HBCD and 0.5 mM cholesterol 3-sulfate (ChS) incubated in the absence of added extracellular calcium and the presence of 6 mM EGTA have significantly improved viability (90.5 � 6.3%, n = 3) when compared with cold-shocked sperm incubated in either the same medium with calcium (46.1 � 3.8%), without HBCD or ChS (26.5 � 7.4% with calcium; 46.5 � 13.1% without calcium), or with HBCD alone (17.0 � 7.4% with calcium, 36.8 � 7.5% without calcium). As we have found previously, treatment with 0.8 mM HBCD plus 0.5 mM ChS completely inhibited the increase in protein tyrosine phosphorylation induced by the cold shock treatment. Although protein tyrosine phosphorylation correlates with porcine sperm capacitation, the ability of cold shock treatment to induce the same phosphorylation pattern indicates that other processes or pathways may contribute to its appearance. Removing extracellular calcium consistently decreased, but did not completely eliminate, the protein tyrosine phosphorylation induced by cold shock. These results indicate that cold shock-induced protein tyrosine phosphorylation is not dependent upon, but can be modulated by, extracellular calcium. The combined effects of calcium, HBCD and ChS on viability suggest that porcine sperm viability following cold shock is best maintained by removing extracellular calcium and increasing membrane cholesterol content via the cholesterol shuttle activity of HBCD. This work was supported by grants from PA Dept. Ag. (ME 443291) and the NIH (5-K08-HD041430).


2012 ◽  
Vol 87 (Suppl_1) ◽  
pp. 425-425
Author(s):  
Lidia M. Zuñiga ◽  
Kely Ordenes ◽  
Emilce S. Diaz ◽  
Patricio Morales

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