Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-vdxz6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T04:55:44.287Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Retention of hamster oolemma fusibility with spermatozoa after various enzyme treatments: a search for the molecules involved in sperm-egg fusion

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 September 2008

Ruben H. Ponce
Affiliation:
University of Hawaii School of Medicine and University of California, USA, and Mitsubishi KaseiInsitutie of Life Sciences, Tokyo, Japan.
Ryuzo Yanagimachi*
Affiliation:
University of Hawaii School of Medicine and University of California, USA, and Mitsubishi KaseiInsitutie of Life Sciences, Tokyo, Japan.
Umbert A Urch
Affiliation:
University of Hawaii School of Medicine and University of California, USA, and Mitsubishi KaseiInsitutie of Life Sciences, Tokyo, Japan.
Tatsuya Yamagata
Affiliation:
University of Hawaii School of Medicine and University of California, USA, and Mitsubishi KaseiInsitutie of Life Sciences, Tokyo, Japan.
Makoto lto
Affiliation:
University of Hawaii School of Medicine and University of California, USA, and Mitsubishi KaseiInsitutie of Life Sciences, Tokyo, Japan.
*
R. Yanagimachi, Department of Anatomy and Reproductive Biology, University of Haxaii School of Medicine, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, USA.

Summary

The plasma membrane (oolemma) of the hamster egg retains the ability to fuse with spermatozoa even after exhaustive treatment with proteases and glycosidases. In contrast, when mouse oolemma is treated with proteases, the ability of eggs to fuse with spermatozoa is reduced. In the present study, similar treatments effective in reducing fusibility in the mouse were reexamined in the hamster. Of the several enzymes and treatments tested, only trypsin in Ca2+-free medium significantly reduced the hamster oolemma's ability to fuse with spermatozoa. This is suggestive of a cadherin-like system of binding and fusion. When hamster oolemmae were treated with the same protease regimen that reduced fusibility of mouse oolemma for mouse spermatozoa, heterologous fusion of hamster oolemmae with mouse spermatozoa was reduced, without affecting the fusion of these oolemmae with hamster spermatozoa. These data suggest that a protease-sensitive oolemma molecule is of critical importance for mouse sperm-oolemma fusion but not for hamster sperm-oolemma fusion.

Type
Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1993

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bavister, B.D. (1989). A consistently successful procedure for in vitro fertilization of golden hamster eggs. Gamete Res. 23, 139–58.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bleil, J.D. (1991). Sperm receptors of mammalian eggs. In Elements of Mammalian Fertilization, ed. Wassarman, P.M., pp. 133–51. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.Google Scholar
Blobel, C.P., Wolfsberg, T.G., Turck, C.W., Myles, D.G., Primakoff, P. & White, M. (1992). A potential fusion peptide and an integrin ligand domain in a protein active in sperm-egg fusion. Nature 356, 248–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boldt, J. & Wolf, D.P. (1986). An improved method for isolation of fertile zona-free mouse eggs. Gamete Res, 13, 213–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boldt, J., Howe, A.M. & Preble, J. (1988). Enzymatic alteration of the ability of mouse egg plasma membrane to interact with sperm. Biol. Reprod. 39, 1927.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Boldt, J., Howe, A.M., Parkerson, J.B., Gunter, L.E. & Kuehn, E. (1989 a). Carbohydrate involvement in sperm-egg fusion in mice. Biol. Reprod. 40, 887–96.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Boldt, J., Gunter, L.E. & Howe, A.M. (1989 b). Characterization of cell surface polypeptides of unfertilized, fertilized and pronase-treated zona-free mouse eggs. Gamete Res. 23, 91101.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Calarco, P.G. (1991). Fertilization of the mouse oocyte. J. Electron Microsc. Tech. 17, 401–11.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dunbar, B.S., Prasad, S.V. & Timmons, T.M. (1991). Comparative structure and functions of mammalian zonae pellucidae. In A Comparative Overview of Mammalian Fertilization, ed. Dunbar, B.S. & O'Rand, M.G., pp. 97114. New York: Plenum Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fleming, A.D. & Yanagimachi, R. (1980). Superovulation and superpregnancy in the golden hamster. Dev. Growth Differ. 22, 103–12.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fusi, F.M., Vignali, M., Busacca, M. & Bronson, R.A. (1992). Evidence for the presence of an integrin cell adhesion receptor on the oolemma of unfertilized human oocytes. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 31, 215–22.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hirao, Y. & Yanagimachi, R. (1978). Effects of various enzymes on the ability of hamster egg plasma membranes to fuse with spermatozoa. Gamete Res. 1, 312.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ito, M. & Yamagata, T. (1986). A novel glycosphingolipid-degrading enzyme cleaves the linkage between the oligosaccharide and ceramide of neutral and acidic glycos-phingolipids. J. Biol. Chem. 261, 14278–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ito, M. & Yamagata, T. (1989). Purification and characterization of glycosphingolipid-specific endoglycosidases (endoglycoceramidases) from a mutant strain of Rhodococcus sp. J. Biol. Chem. 264, 9510–19.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ito, M., Ikegami, Y. & Yamagata, T. (1991). Activator proteins for glycosphingolipid hydrolysis by endoglycoceramidases. J. Biol. Chem. 266, 7919–26.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Karlsson, K. (1986). Animal glycolipids as attachment site for microbes. Chem. Phys. Lipids 42, 153–72.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kellom, T., Vick, A. & Boldt, J. (1992). Recovery of penetration in protease-treated zona-free mouse eggs occurs coincident with recovery of a cell surface 94 kD protein. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 33, 4652.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Knudsen, K.A. (1991). Fusion of myoblasts. In Membrane Fusion, ed. Wilchut, J & Hoekstra, D., pp. 601–26. New York: Marcel Dekker.Google Scholar
Law, H., Itkonnen, O. & Lingwood, C.A. (1988). Sulfogalac-tolipid binding protein SLIP 1: a conserved function for a conserved protein. J. Cell Physiol. 137, 462–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lingwood, C.A., Quinn, P.A., Wilansky, S., Nutikka, A., Ruhnke, H.L. & Miller, R.B. (1990). Common sulfoglycolipid receptor for mycoplasmas involved in animal and human infertility. Biol. Reprod. 43, 694–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Miller, D.J. & Ax, R.L. (1990). Carbohydrates and fertilization in animals. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 26, 184–98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nicolson, G.L., Yanagimachi, R. & Yanagimachi, H. (1975). Ultrastructural localization of lectin-binding sites on the zonae pellucidae and plasma membrane of mammalian eggs. J. Cell Biol. 66, 263–74.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ohnishi, S. (1988). Fusion of viral envelopes with cellular membranes. In Current Topics in Membranes and Transport, eds. Duzgunes, N. & F., Bronner, vol. 32, pp. 257–96. Orlando, FL: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Olden, K., Law, J., Hunter, V.A., Romain, R. & Parent, J.B. (1981). Inhibition of fusion of embryonic muscle cells in culture by tunicamycin is prevented by leupeptin. J. Cell Biol. 88, 199204.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Revesz, T. & Greaves, M. (1975). Ligand-induced redistribution of lymphocyte membrane ganglioside GM1. Nature 257, 103–6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Takeichi, M. (1988). The cadherins: cell-cell adhesion molecules controlling animal morphogensis. Development 102, 639–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Takeichi, M. (1991). Cadherin cell adhesion receptors as a morphogenetic regulator. Science 251, 1451–5.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Toyoda, Y., Yokoyama, M. & Hoshi, F. (1971). Studies on the fertilization of mouse eggs in vitro. I. In vitro fertilization of eggs by fresh epididymal sperm. Jpn. J. Anim. Reprod. 16, 147–52.Google Scholar
Ward, C.R. & Storey, B.T. (1984). Determination of the time course of capacitation in mouse spermatozoa using a chlortetracycline fluorescence assay. Dev. Biol. 104, 287–96.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wassarman, P.M. (1990). Profile of a mammalian sperm receptor. Development 108, 117.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wolf, D.P., Inoue, M. & Stark, R.A. (1976). Penetration of zonae-free mouse ova. Biol. Reprod. 15, 213–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yanagimachi, R. (1978). Calcium requirement for sperm-egg cfusion in mammals. Biol. Reprod. 19, 949–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yanagimachi, R. (1981). Mechanisms of fertilization in mammals. In Fertilization and Embryonic Development In Vitro, ed. Mastroianni, L. Jr & J.D., Biggers, pp. 81182. New York: Plenum Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yanagimachi, R. (1988). Sperm-egg fusion. In Current Topics in Membranes and Transport, ed. Duzgunes, N. & Bronner, F., vol. 32, pp. 343. Orlando, FL: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Yanagimachi, R.& Nicolson, G.L. (1976). Lectin-binding properties of hamster egg zona pellucida and plasma membrane during maturation and preimplanation development. Exp. Cell Res. 100, 249–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar