Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-5r2nc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-26T22:30:03.407Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The soluble sperm oscillogen hypothesis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 September 2008

Karl Swann
Karl Swann*
Affiliation:
MRC Experimental Embryology and Teratology Unit, St George's Hospital Medical school, London, UK.
*
Department of Anatomy and developnental Biology, University College, Gower Street,London WCIE 6BT, UK.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

It is now accepted that sperm trigger deuterostome egg activation by causing an increase in egg cytoplasmic Ca2+ levels (Jaffe, 1983; Whitaker & Swann, 1993). This increase generally takes the form of a single wave of Ca2+ release that crosses the egg from the point of sperm-egg interaction (Jaffe, 1983)eggs Ca2+ waves occur repetitively and soon turn into synchronous pulses, or homogeneous oscillations, that last for hours after sperm-egg fusion (Miyazaki et al., 1993b; Homa et al., 1993). Despite their extensive characterisation it is still not established how sperm trigger these Ca2+ changes in eggs. The signal transduction mechanism is missing. There is a proliferation of overlapping and complex schemes for how the sperm may initiate Ca2+ release (Miyazaki et al., 1993b;Whitaker & Swann, 1993). Here, my aim is to present one simple scheme in its generic form. The brevity of this essay restricts citations and necessitates using reviews to reference original work.

Type
Article
Information
Zygote , Volume 1 , Issue 4 , November 1993 , pp. 273 - 276
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

Allen, R.D. & Griffen, J.L. (1958). The time sequence of early events at fertilization of sea urchin eggs. I. The latent period and the cortical reaction. Exp. Cell Res. 15, 163–73.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Berridge, M.J. (1993). Inositol trisphoshate and calcium signalling. Nature 361, 315–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Currie, K.P.M., Swann, K., Galione, A. & Scott, R.H. (1992). Activation of Ca2+ -dependent currents in cultured dorsal root ganglion neurons by a sperm factor and cyclic-ADP ribose. Mol. Biol. Cell 3, 1415–25.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dale, D. (1988). Primary and secondary messengers in the activation of ascidian eggs. Exp. Cell Res. 177, 205–11.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dale, B., De Felice, L.J. & Ehrenstein, G. (1985). Injection of a soluble sperm extract into sea urchin eggs triggers the cortical reaction. Experientia 41, 1068–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Homa, S.T.Carroll, J. & Swann, K. (1993). The role of calcium in mammalian oocyte maturation and egg activation Hum. Reprod. 8, 1274–81.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Igusa, Y. & Miyazaki, S. (1983). Effects of altered extracellular and intracellular calcium concentration on hyperpolarizing responses of hamster egg. J. Physiol. (Lond.). 340, 611–32.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Iwasa, K.H., Ehrenstein, G., DeFelice, L. & Russell, J.T. (1990). High concentrations of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate in sea urchin sperm. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 172, 932–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jaffe, L.A.Turner, P.R., Kline, D., Kado, R.T. & Schilling, F. (1988). G-proteins and egg activation. Cell Differ. Dev. 25, Suppl. 15–18CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jaffe, L.F. (1983). Sources of calcium in egg activation: a review and hypothesis. Dev. Biol. 99, 265–76.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McCulloh, D.H. & Chambers, E.L. (1992). Fusion of membranes during fertilization: increases of sea urchin egg's membrane capacitance and membrane conductance at the site of contact with the sperm. J. Gen. Physiol. 99, 137–75.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McDougall, A., Gillot, I. & Whitaker, M.J. (1993). Thimerosal reveals calcium-induced calcium release in unfertilised sea urchin eggs. Zygote 1, 35–42.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Miyazaki, S., Nakada, K. & Shirakawa, H. (1993a). Signal transduction of gamete interaction and intracellular calcuim release mechanism at fertilization of mammalian eggs. In: Biology of Germ Lines in Animals and Man, Mohri, H., Takahasi, M. & Tachi, C., pp.125–43. Tokyo: Japan Scientific Press.Google Scholar
Miyazaki, S., Shirakawa, H., Nakada, K. & Honda, Y. (1993b). Essential role of the inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor? Ca2+ oscillations at fertilization of mammalian eggs. Dev. Biol. 158, 62–78.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Salama, G., Abramson, J.J. & Pike, G.K. (1992). Sulfhydryl reagents trigger Ca2+ release from sacroplasmic reticulum of skinned rabbits psoas fibres. J.Physiol. (Lond.) 454, 389–420.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stice, S.L. & Robl, J.M. (1990) Activation of mammalian oocytes by a factor obtained from rabbit sperm. Mol.Reprod.Dev. 25, 272–80.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Swann, K. (1990) A cytosolic sperm factor stimulates repetitive calcium increases and mimics fertilization in hamster eggs. Development 110, 1295–302.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Swann, K. (1991). Thimerosal causes calcium oscillations and sensitizes calcium-induced calcium release in unfertilized hamster eggs. FEBS Lett. 278, 175–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Swann, K. (1992). Different triggers for calcium oscillations in mouse eggs involve a ryanodine-sensitive store. Biochem.J. 287, 79–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Swann, K., Igusa, I. & Miyazaki, S. (1989). Evidence for an inhibitory effect of protein kinase C on G-proteinmediated repetitive calcium transients in hamster eggs. EMBO J. 8, 3711–18.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Whitaker, M. & Swann, K. (1993). Lighting the fuse at fertilization. Development 117, 1–12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar