scholarly journals CHANGES IN THE SPERMATOZOON DURING FERTILIZATION IN HYDROIDES HEXAGONUS (ANNELIDA)

1961 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 231-254 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Hunter Colwin ◽  
Arthur L. Colwin
Keyword(s):  
Plasma Membrane ◽  
Outer Zone ◽  
Sperm Head ◽  
Intermediate Zone ◽  
Vitelline Membrane ◽  
Acrosomal Vesicle ◽  
Acrosomal Membrane ◽  
Sperm Plasma Membrane ◽  
Morphological Identity

In the previous paper the structure of the acrosomal region of the spermatozoon was described. The present paper describes the changes which this region undergoes during passage through the vitelline membrane. The material used consisted of moderately polyspermic eggs of Hydroides hexagonus, osmium-fixed usually 9 seconds after insemination. There are essentially four major changes in the acrosome during passage of the sperm head through the vitelline membrane. First, the acrosome breaks open apically by a kind of dehiscence which results in the formation of a well defined orifice. Around the lips of the orifice the edges of the plasma and acrosomal membranes are then found to be fused to form a continuous membranous sheet. Second, the walls of the acrosomal vesicle are completely everted, and this appears to be the means by which the apex of the sperm head is moved through the vitelline membrane. The lip of the orifice comes to lie deeper and deeper within the vitelline membrane. At the same time the lip itself is made up of constantly changing material as first the material of the outer zone and then that of the intermediate zone everts. One is reminded of the lip of an amphibian blastopore, which during gastrulation maintains its morphological identity as a lip but is nevertheless made up of constantly changing cells, with constantly changing outline and even constantly changing position. Third, the large acrosomal granule rapidly disappears. This disappearance is closely correlated with a corresponding disappearance of a part of the principal material of the vitelline membrane from before it, and the suggestion is made that the acrosomal granule is the source of the lysin which dissolves this part of the vitelline membrane. Fourth, in the inner zone the fifteen or so short tubular invaginations of the acrosomal membrane, present in the normal unreacted spermatozoon, lengthen considerably to become a tuft of acrosomal tubules. These tubules are the first structures of the advancing sperm head to touch the plasma membrane of the egg. It is notable that the surface of the acrosomal tubules which once faced into the closed acrosomal cavity becomes the first part of the sperm plasma membrane to meet the plasma membrane of the egg. The acrosomal tubules of Hydroides, which arise simply by lengthening of already existing shorter tubules, are considered to represent the acrosome filaments of other species.

scholarly journals FINE STRUCTURE OF THE SPERMATOZOON OF HYDROIDES HEXAGONUS (ANNELIDA), WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE ACROSOMAL REGION

1961 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 211-230 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arthur L. Colwin ◽  
Laura Hunter Colwin
Keyword(s):  
Plasma Membrane ◽  
Granular Material ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Outer Zone ◽  
Natural Fracture ◽  
Limited Area ◽  
Acrosomal Vesicle ◽  
Acrosomal Membrane ◽  
Inner Surface ◽  
Egg Membrane

This paper describes in some detail the structure of the acrosomal region of the spermatozoon of Hydroides as a basis for subsequent papers which will deal with the structural changes which this region undergoes during fertilization. The material was osmium-fixed and mild centrifugation was used to aggregate the spermatozoa from collection to final embedding. The studies concern also the acrosomal regions of frozen-thawed sperm prepared by a method which previously had yielded extracts with egg membrane lytic activity. The plasma membrane closely envelops four readily recognizable regions of the spermatozoon: acrosomal, nuclear, mitochondrial, and flagellar. The acrosome consists of an acrosomal vesicle which is bounded by a single continuous membrane, and its periphery is distinguishable into inner, intermediate, and outer zones. The inner and intermediate zones form a pocket into which the narrowed apex of the nucleus intrudes. Granular material adjoins the inner surface of the acrosomal membrane, and this material is characteristically different for each zone. Centrally, the acrosomal vesicle is spanned by an acrosomal granule: its base is at the inner zone and its apex at the outer zone. The apex of the acrosomal granule flares out and touches the acrosomal membrane over a limited area. In this limited area the adjoining granular material of the outer zone is lacking. The acrosomal membrane of the inner zone is invaginated into about fifteen short tubules. The acrosomal membrane of the outer zone is closely surrounded by the plasma membrane. At the apex of the acrosomal region a small apical vesicle is sandwiched between the plasma membrane and the acrosomal membrane. Numerous frozen-thawed specimens and occasional specimens not so treated show acrosomal regions at the apex of which there is a well defined opening or orifice. Around the rim or lip of this orifice plasma and acrosomal membranes may even be fused into a continuum. The evidence indicates that the apical vesicle and the parts of the plasma and acrosomal membranes which surround it constitute a lid, and the rim of this lid constitutes a natural "fracture line" or rim of dehiscence. Should fracture occur, the lid would be removed and the acrosomal vesicle would be open to the exterior.

scholarly journals CHANGES IN THE SPERMATOZOON DURING FERTILIZATION IN HYDROIDES HEXAGONUS (ANNELIDA)

1961 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 255-274 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arthur L. Colwin ◽  
Laura Hunter Colwin
Keyword(s):  
Plasma Membrane ◽  
Cross Section ◽  
Direct Contact ◽  
Plasma Membranes ◽  
Sperm Head ◽  
Vitelline Membrane ◽  
Main Body ◽  
Large Vesicle ◽  
Sperm Plasma Membrane ◽  
The Difference

This, the last of a series of three papers, deals with the final events which lead to the incorporation of the spermatozoon with the egg. The material used consisted of moderately polyspermic eggs of Hydroides hexagonus, osmium-fixed at various times up to five minutes after insemination. The first direct contact of sperm head with egg proper is by means of the acrosomal tubules. These deeply indent the egg plasma membrane, and consequently at the apex of the sperm head the surfaces of the two gametes become interdigitated. But at first the sperm and egg plasma membranes maintain their identity and a cross-section through the region of interdigitation shows these two membranes as a number of sets of two closely concentric rings. The egg plasma membrane rises to form a cone which starts to project into the hole which the spermatozoon earlier had produced in the vitelline membrane by means of lysis. But the cone does not literally engulf the sperm head. Instead, where they come into contact, sperm plasma membrane and egg plasma membrane fuse to form one continuous membranous sheet. At this juncture the two gametes have in effect become mutually incorporated and have formed a single fertilized cell with one continuous bounding membrane. At this time, at least, the membrane is a mosaic of mostly egg plasma membrane and a patch of sperm plasma membrane. The evidence indicates that the fusion of the two membranes results from vesiculation of the sperm and egg plasma membranes in the region at which they come to adjoin. Once this fusion of membranes is accomplished, the egg cytoplasm intrudes between the now common membrane and the internal sperm structures, such as the nucleus, and even extends into the flagellum; finally these sperm structures come to lie in the main body of the egg. The vesiculation suggested above appears possibly to resemble pinocytosis, with the difference that the vesicles are formed from the plasma membranes of two cells. At no time, however, is the sperm as a whole engulfed and brought to the interior of the egg within a large vesicle.

scholarly journals ROLE OF THE GAMETE MEMBRANES IN FERTILIZATION IN SACCOGLOSSUS KOWALEVSKII (ENTEROPNEUSTA)

1963 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 501-518 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Hunter Colwin ◽  
Arthur L. Colwin
Keyword(s):  
Plasma Membrane ◽  
Membrane Fusion ◽  
Plasma Membranes ◽  
Sperm Nucleus ◽  
Zygote Formation ◽  
General Hypothesis ◽  
Acrosomal Vesicle ◽  
Saccoglossus Kowalevskii ◽  
Sperm Plasma Membrane

An earlier paper showed that in Saccoglossus the acrosomal tubule makes contact with the egg plasma membrane. The present paper includes evidence that the sperm and egg plasma membranes fuse to establish the single continuous zygote membrane which, consequently, is a mosaic. Contrary to the general hypothesis of Tyler, pinocytosis or phagocytosis plays no role in zygote formation. Contact between the gametes is actually between two newly exposed surfaces: in the spermatozoon, the surface was formerly the interior of the acrosomal vesicle; in the egg, it was membrane previously covered by the egg envelopes. The concept that all the events of fertilization are mediated by a fertilizin-antifertilizin reaction seems an oversimplification of events actually observed: rather, the evidence indicates that a series of specific biochemical interactions probably would be involved. Gamete membrane fusion permits sperm periacrosomal material to meet the egg cytoplasm; if an activating substance exists in the spermatozoon it probably is periacrosomal rather than acrosomal in origin. The contents of the acrosome are expended in the process of delivering the sperm plasma membrane to the egg plasma membrane. After these membranes coalesce, the sperm nucleus and other internal sperm structures move into the egg cytoplasm.

Bicarbonate stimulated phospholipid scrambling induces cholesterol redistribution and enables cholesterol depletion in the sperm plasma membrane

2001 ◽  
Vol 114 (19) ◽  
pp. 3543-3555 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frits M. Flesch ◽  
Jos F. H. M. Brouwers ◽  
Patricia F. E. M. Nievelstein ◽  
Arie J. Verkleij ◽  
Lambert M. G. van Golde ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plasma Membrane ◽  
Cholesterol Efflux ◽  
Sperm Head ◽  
Sperm Cells ◽  
Cholesterol Depletion ◽  
Apical Surface ◽  
Epididymal Maturation ◽  
Head Surface ◽  
Sperm Plasma Membrane ◽  
Phospholipid Scrambling

Mammalian sperm cells are activated prior to fertilization by high bicarbonate levels, which facilitate lipoprotein-mediated cholesterol efflux. The role of bicarbonate and cholesterol acceptors on the cholesterol organization in the sperm plasma membrane was tested. Bicarbonate induced an albumin-independent change in lipid architecture that was detectable by an increase in merocyanine staining (due to protein kinase A-mediated phospholipid scrambling). The response was limited to a subpopulation of viable sperm cells that were sorted from the non-responding subpopulation by flow cytometry. The responding cells had reduced cholesterol levels (30% reduction) compared with non-responding cells. The subpopulation differences were caused by variable efficiencies in epididymal maturation as judged by cell morphology. Membrane cholesterol organization was observed with filipin, which labeled the entire sperm surface of non-stimulated and non-responding cells, but labeled only the apical surface area of bicarbonate-responding cells. Addition of albumin caused cholesterol efflux, but only in bicarbonate-responding cells that exhibited virtually no filipin labeling in the sperm head area. Albumin had no effect on other lipid components, and no affinity for cholesterol in the absence of bicarbonate. Therefore, bicarbonate induces first a lateral redistribution in the low cholesterol containing spermatozoa, which in turn facilitates cholesterol extraction by albumin. A model is proposed in which phospholipid scrambling induces the formation of an apical membrane raft in the sperm head surface that enables albumin mediated efflux of cholesterol.

scholarly journals ROLE OF THE GAMETE MEMBRANES IN FERTILIZATION IN SACCOGLOSSUS KOWALEVSKII (ENTEROPNEUSTA)

1963 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 477-500 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arthur L. Colwin ◽  
Laura Hunter Colwin
Keyword(s):  
Plasma Membrane ◽  
Osmium Tetroxide ◽  
Plasma Membranes ◽  
Previous Evidence ◽  
Egg Envelope ◽  
Saccoglossus Kowalevskii ◽  
Acrosomal Membrane ◽  
Peripheral Ring ◽  
Sperm Plasma Membrane

Previous electron microscope studies of sperm-egg association in the annelid Hydroides revealed novel aspects with respect to the acrosomal region. To determine whether these aspects were unique, a comparable study was made of a species belonging to a widely separated phylum, Hemichordata. Osmium tetroxide-fixed polyspermic material of the enteropneust, Saccoglossus, was used. The acrosomal region includes the membrane-bounded acrosome, with its large acrosomal granule and shallow adnuclear invagination, and the periacrosomal material which surrounds the acrosome except at the apex; here, the acrosomal membrane lies very close to the enclosing sperm plasma membrane. After reaching the egg envelope, the spermatozoon is activated and undergoes a series of changes: the apex dehisces and around the resulting orifice the acrosomal and sperm plasma membranes form a continuous mosaic membrane. The acrosomal granule disappears. Within 7 seconds the invagination becomes the acrosomal tubule, spans the egg envelopes, and meets the egg plasma membrane. The rest of the acrosomal vesicle everts. The periacrosomal mass changes profoundly: part becomes a fibrous core (possibly equivalent to a perforatorium); part remains as a peripheral ring. The basic pattern of structure and sperm-egg association in Saccoglossus is the same as in Hydroides. Previous evidence from four other phyla as interpreted here also indicates conformity to this pattern. The major role of the acrosome is apparently to deliver the sperm plasma membrane to the egg plasma membrane.

Electron microscopic study of sperm head differentiation in the lizard Agama stellio

1987 ◽  
Vol 65 (12) ◽  
pp. 2959-2968 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hameed Al-Hajj ◽  
Suha Janakat ◽  
Fahmi Mahmoud
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Envelope ◽  
Microscopic Study ◽  
Electron Microscopic Study ◽  
Longitudinal Axis ◽  
Sperm Head ◽  
Fibrous Layer ◽  
Electron Microscopic ◽  
Acrosomal Vesicle ◽  
Acrosomal Membrane ◽  
Chromatin Material

Early differentiation of the spermatid of Agama stellio is demonstrated by two anterior nuclear depressions, occupied by two proacrosomal vesicles, which fuse to form one vesicle. Later, this vesicle exhibits an acrosomal granule in its midposterior portion. The space between the posterior acrosomal membrane and the nuclear envelope is occupied by a subacrosomal fibrous layer which later exhibits a subacrosomal granule posterior to the acrosomal granule. The acrosomal vesicle and the nuclear depression flatten and later elongate. The acrosomal granule spreads and assumes the inverted V shape of the acrosomal vesicle, and the subacrosomal material assumes a feathery shape capping the nuclear prolongation. The subacrosomal granule on top of this feathery material forms a long, cross-striated subacrosomal rod which extends towards the tip of the acrosome. The chromatin material undergoes condensation into spirally oriented fibers, which eventually become homogeneous and dense. This process is accompanied by a change in the orientation of the manchette microtubules, which initially occur as rings around the nucleus and are eventually found parallel to the longitudinal axis of the nucleus.

scholarly journals Visualization and quantification of glycolipid polarity dynamics in the plasma membrane of the mammalian spermatozoon

1994 ◽  
Vol 107 (8) ◽  
pp. 2151-2163 ◽  
Author(s):  
B.M. Gadella ◽  
T.W. Gadella ◽  
B. Colenbrander ◽  
L.M. van Golde ◽  
M. Lopes-Cardozo
Keyword(s):  
Plasma Membrane ◽  
Sperm Head ◽  
Breakdown Product ◽  
Prolonged Storage ◽  
Sperm Cells ◽  
Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging ◽  
Outer Leaflet ◽  
Head Surface ◽  
Sperm Plasma Membrane

Seminolipid (sulphogalactosylalkylacylglycerol), the glycolipid that is specific for mammalian germ cells, is located exclusively in the outer leaflet of the sperm plasma membrane. In this study the lateral distribution of seminolipid on sperm heads has been investigated by indirect immunofluorescence labelling and detection with digital imaging fluorescence microscopy. In freshly ejaculated sperm cells this glycolipid was present primarily at the apical ridge subdomain of the plasma membrane of the sperm head. After binding the sperm cells to zona-coated coverslips seminolipid migrated, in 40 minutes, from the apical ridge to the equatorial subdomain of the plasma membrane. A similar redistribution of seminolipid was observed during capacitation of sperm cells in vitro induced by Ca2+ or bovine serum albumin. Comparable migration of seminolipid was also found after prolonged storage of ejaculated sperm cells, albeit at a much slower rate. Addition of arylsulphatase A, an enzyme present in seminal plasma that desulphates seminolipid, significantly enhanced the migration of seminolipid during storage of sperm cells. Its breakdown product desulphoseminolipid (galactosylalkylacylglycerol) appeared highly specifically at the equatorial segment. The measured fluorescence intensity over the sperm head surface correlated linearly with the spatial probe distribution as was checked by fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy. This paper demonstrates and quantifies for the first time the polarity of seminolipid on the surface of the sperm cell and the dynamic alterations that occur in this polarity during post-ejaculatory events.

Organization of the boar spermatozoan plasma membrane: evidence for separate domains (subdomains) of integral membrane proteins in the plasma membrane overlying the principal segment of the acrosome

1987 ◽  
Vol 88 (3) ◽  
pp. 343-349
Author(s):  
R.N. Peterson ◽  
M. Gillott ◽  
W. Hunt ◽  
L.D. Russell
Keyword(s):  
Plasma Membrane ◽  
Membrane Proteins ◽  
Acrosome Reaction ◽  
Freeze Fracture ◽  
High Specificity ◽  
Sperm Head ◽  
Integral Membrane Proteins ◽  
Indirect Immunofluorescence Microscopy ◽  
Acrosomal Membrane ◽  
Acidic Phospholipids

Indirect immunofluorescence microscopy and freeze-fracture have been used to identify overlapping subdomains at the peripheral rim of the sperm-head plasma membrane (PM) and the margin of the outer acrosomal membrane (OAM) comprising the principal segment of the acrosome of the boar spermatozoon. An array of ridge-like structures (spaced 12–16 nm centre-to-centre), originally observed on the OAM by Aguas & Pinto da Silva, lies just beneath an area of the PM that is sparsely populated with large intramembranous particles compared to that of other regions of the head PM. This region has a high specificity for the lectin arachis hypogaea (peanut agglutinin). We suggest that the OAM at the rim of the sperm head may be rich in acidic phospholipids and that the close apposition of this membrane with a region of the PM relatively poor in integral membrane proteins may provide sites for initiating the acrosome reaction.

scholarly journals Sperm plasma membrane breakdown during Drosophila fertilization requires Sneaky, an acrosomal membrane protein

Development ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 133 (24) ◽  
pp. 4871-4879 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. L. Wilson ◽  
K. R. Fitch ◽  
B. T. Bafus ◽  
B. T. Wakimoto
Keyword(s):  
Plasma Membrane ◽  
Membrane Protein ◽  
Membrane Breakdown ◽  
Acrosomal Membrane ◽  
Sperm Plasma Membrane
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document