The calcium-mobilizing messenger nicotinic acid adenine dinucleotide phosphate participates in sperm activation by mediating the acrosome reaction.
Before a sperm can fertilize an egg it must undergo a final activation step induced by the egg termed the acrosome reaction. During the acrosome reaction a lysosome-related organelle, the acrosome, fuses with the plasma membrane to release hydrolytic enzymes and expose an egg-binding protein. Becaus...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2010
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| Summary: | Before a sperm can fertilize an egg it must undergo a final activation step induced by the egg termed the acrosome reaction. During the acrosome reaction a lysosome-related organelle, the acrosome, fuses with the plasma membrane to release hydrolytic enzymes and expose an egg-binding protein. Because NAADP (nicotinic acid adenine dinucleotide phosphate) releases Ca(2+) from acidic lysosome-related organelles in other cell types, we investigated a possible role for NAADP in mediating the acrosome reaction. We report that NAADP binds with high affinity to permeabilized sea urchin sperm. Moreover, we used Mn(2+) quenching of luminal fura-2 and (45)Ca(2+) to directly demonstrate NAADP regulation of a cation channel on the acrosome. Additionally, we show that NAADP synthesis occurs through base exchange and is driven by an increase in Ca(2+). We propose a new model for acrosome reaction signaling in which Ca(2+) influx initiated by egg jelly stimulates NAADP synthesis and that this NAADP acts on its receptor/channel on the acrosome to release Ca(2+) to drive acrosomal exocytosis. |
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