ISSN:
0886-1544
Keywords:
sperm motility
;
cadmium
;
flagellar curvature
;
kinase A
;
Life and Medical Sciences
;
Cell & Developmental Biology
Source:
Wiley InterScience Backfile Collection 1832-2000
Topics:
Biology
,
Medicine
Notes:
Rat sperm, demembranated with 0.1% Triton X-100, were used to explore the reversal in flagellar curvature induced by calcium ion. As reported earlier (Lindemann and Goltz, Cell Motil. Cytoskeleton, 10:420-431, 1988), the radius of curvature of the flagellar midpiece of rat sperm is controlled by the free Ca2+ concentration. A reversal of the direction of curvature (judged by the asymmetric sperm head) takes place at ≈ 2.5 + 10-6 M free Ca2+.In our current study, the time course of the curvature change, after elevating free Ca2+ to 3.5 ± 10-4 M, was utilized to assess the effects of the cAMP-kinase A pathway on the calcium response. In addition, calmodulin's involvement in this response was explored using anti-calmodulin and Cd2+. The activity state of the sperm models (which could be directly influenced through cAMP) was found to control the rate of curvature change in response to increased free Ca2+. In the most extreme case, fully quiescent sperm did not respond to Ca2+ at all, and cAMP-primed sperm models completed the response to Ca2+ in two minutes or less.Anti-calmodulin demonstrated strong inhibitory effects on the curvature reversal. Cadmium ion was also extremely potent at blocking the response to Ca2+, completely eliminating the curvature reversal at 2 × 10-10 M free Cd2+.Based on these findings, it appears that the Ca2+-activated curvature reversal of rat sperm is potentiated by cAMP-dependent kinase and may be mediated through calmodulin.
Additional Material:
7 Ill.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/cm.970200407
