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Role of guanylyl cyclase in fertilisation of sea urchin eggs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 July 2018

Ritsu Kuroda ,
Kenji Kontani ,
Yasunari Kanda ,
Toshiaki Katada ,
Yu-ichi Satoh ,
Norio Suzuki  and
Hideyo Kuroda
Ritsu Kuroda
Affiliation:
Department of Environmental Biology and Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Toyama University, Toyama 930-8555, Japan
Kenji Kontani
Affiliation:
Department of Physiological Chemistry, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
Yasunari Kanda
Affiliation:
Department of Physiological Chemistry, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
Toshiaki Katada
Affiliation:
Department of Physiological Chemistry, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
Yu-ichi Satoh
Affiliation:
Division of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-0810, Japan
Norio Suzuki
Affiliation:
Division of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-0810, Japan
Hideyo Kuroda
Affiliation:
Department of Environmental Biology and Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Toyama University, Toyama 930-8555, Japan
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Extract

A transient increase in cytosolic free calcium ion concentration ([Ca2+]i) (Ca2+-transient) takes place in the early stages of fertilisation of sea urchin eggs as well as in other animal eggs (Miyazaki et al., 1993). This transient increase in [Ca2+]i propagates across the egg as a Ca2+ wave, which is thought to be a necessary and sufficient event for egg activation (Whitaker & Swarm, 1993). In sea urchin eggs, the rise in [Ca2+], is caused by release of Ca2+ from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) via one or both of two pathways: (a) inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3) and the inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor/channel (IP3R) or (b) cADP-ribose (cADPR) and/or cGMP and the ryanodine receptor/channel (RyR) (Berridge, 1993). The signalling pathways from sperm to ER of eggs are not yet fully explained. Recent evidence from two lines of experiments has excited more controversy. First, intracellular injection of SH2 domain of phospholipase Cγ, which produced IP3, completely inhibited the increase in [Ca2+]i (Carroll et al., 1999). Another series of experiments showed that nitric oxide (NO) gas was produced in sperm during their acrosome reaction and in eggs during fertilisation, and that the intracellular injection of NO synthase caused egg activation (Epel, this supplement). NO gas is expected to stimulate the production of cGMP by activating soluble guanylyl cyclase (Garthewaite, 1991). Thus, it seems that direct measurements of the second messenger candidates during sea urchin fertilisation are essential to an understanding of the calcium signalling pathway. We previously measured the IP3, cGMP and cADPR contents of sea urchin eggs, and compared the time courses of their changes with that of the [Ca2+]i change (Kuroda et al., 1997). We now examine further the involvement of guanylyl cyclase in the Ca2+ signalling pathway at fertilisation of sea urchin eggs.

Type
Special Lecture for Citizens
Information
Zygote , Volume 8 , supplement S1: Proceedings of the International Symposium on Fertilization and Development of Sea Urchin and Marine Invertebrates , December 1999 , pp. S18 - S19
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1999

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