Summary
Acrosomes of rabbit spermatozoa were labelled by tritiated fucose introduced into the cells during spermatogenesis. The labelling was analysed simultaneously by autoradiography and biochemically. In compact intact acrosomes the labelling was confined strictly to the acrosomal region of the sperm head. In swollen and detached acrosomes the autoradiographic grains were associated mostly with the acrosomal cap. Only in some cells a small proportion of radioactivity was detected to be associated with denuded sperm heads. In acrosomal extracts a considerable share of radioactivity coincided with gel filtration fractions showing esterase activity (BAEE-Nalpha-benzoyl-l-arginine ethyl ester splitting), akin to that exhibited by acrosin.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bedford JM (1968) Ultrastructural changes in the sperm head during fertilization in the rabbit. Am J Anat 123:329–358
Bedford JM, Cross NL (1978) Normal penetration of rabbit spermatozoa through a trypsin- and acrosin-resistant zona pellucida. J Reprod Fertil 54:385–392
Bícová R, Hána J (1973) Streptokoková hyaluronát-lyása a antihyaluronát lyása. Česk Epidemiol Mikrobiol Imunol 22:315–323
Brown CR, Harrison RAP (1978) The activation of proacrosin in spermatozoa from ram, bull and boar. Biochim Biophys Acta 526:202–217
Brown CR, Hartree EF (1974) Distribution of a trypsin-like proteinase in the ram spermatozoon. J Reprod Fertil 36:195–198
Courtens JL (1978) Cytochemical localization glycoproteins in the developing acrosome of ram spermatids. J Ultrastract Res 65:173–181
Fléchon JE (1975) Ultrastructural and cytochemical modifications of rabbit spermatozoa during epididymal transport. In: Hafez ESE, Thibault CG (eds) The biology of spermatozoa, transport, survival and fertilizing ability, Karger, Basel, pp 36–45
Fléchon JE (1979) Sperm glycoproteins of the boar, bull, rabbit and ram. I. Acrosomal glycoproteins. Gamete Res 2:43–51
Koehler JK (1978) The mammalian sperm surface: Studies with specific labelling techniques. Int Rev Cytol 54:73–108
Kopečný V (1976) Labelling of acrosomes in mouse spermatozoa by l-/1-3H/fucose. J Reprod Fertil 47:403–405
Kopečný V (1979a) Acrosome labelling in mammalian spermatozoa. Ann Biol Anim Biochim Biophys 19:695–701
Kopečný V (1979 b) A possible new approach to the study of acrosomal proteinases: labelling via incorporation of radioactive precursors. Arch Androl (USA) 3:277–278
Kopečný V, Fléchon JE (1979) Autoradiographic study of the acrosome reaction in guinea pig and rabbit. (Abstract). 5th European Anatomical Congress, Prague, September 10–14, 1979. Communications, p 211
Lui CW, Meizel S (1979) Further evidence in support of a role for hamster sperm hydrolytic enzymes in the acrosome reaction. J Exp Zool 207:173–186
McRorie RA, Williams WL (1974) Biochemistry of mammalian fertilization. Annu Rev Biochem 43:777–803
Morton DB (1977) Immunoenzyme studies on acrosin and hyaluronidase in ram spermatozoa. In: Edidin M, Johnson MN (eds) Immunobiology of gametes. Cambridge University Press, London
Mukerji SK, Meizel S (1975) The molecular transformation of rabbit testis proacrosin into acrosin. Arch Biochem Biophys 168:720–721
Polakoski KL, Zaneveld LJD (1976) Proacrosin. In: Lorand L (ed) Methods in enzymology, vol. 45, Part B. Academic Press, New York
Schill WB, Wolf HH (1974) Ultrastructure of human sperm acrosome and determination of acrosin activity under conditions of semen preservation. Int J Fertil 19:217–223
Schleuning WD, Hell R, Fritz H (1976) Multiple forms of boar acrosin and their relationship to proenzyme activation. Hoppe-Seyler's Z Physiol Chem 357:207–212
Schwert GS, Takenaka Y (1955) A spectrophotometric determination of trypsin and chymotrypsin. Biochim Biophys Acta 16:570–575
Shams-Borhan G, Huneau D, Fléchon JE (1979) Acrosin does not appear to be bound to the inner acrosomal membrane of bull spermatozoa. J Exp Zool 209:143–149
Srivastava PN, Munnell JF, Yang CH, Foley CW (1974) Sequential release of acrosomal membranes and acrosomal enzymes of ram spermatozoa. J Reprod Fertil 36:363–372
Stambaugh R (1978) Enzymatic and morphological events in mammalian fertilization. Gamete Res 1:65–85
Stambaugh R, Smith M (1976) Sperm proteinase release during fertilization of rabbit ova. J Exp Zool 197:121–125
Szöllösi D, Hunter RHF (1978) The nature and occurrence of the acrosome reaction in spermatozoa of the domestic pig, Sus scrofa. J Anat 127:33–41
Zaneveld LJD, Polakoski KL, Schumacher GFB (1975) The proteolytic enzyme systems of mammalian genital tract secretions and spermatozoa. In: Reich E, Rifkin DB, Shaw E (eds) Proteases and biological control. Cold Spring Harbor conferences on cell proliferation, vol 2, pp 683–706
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kopečný, V., Sedláková, E., Čechová, D. et al. First attempt to characterize 3H-fucose acrosomal label in spermatozoa. Histochemistry 68, 67–74 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00498502
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00498502