1. During capacitation in bull spermatozoa, actin and PLC-ζ undergo dynamic interactions.
- Author
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Mejía-Flores I, Chiquete-Félix N, Palma-Lara I, Uribe-Carvajal S, and de Lourdes Juárez-Mosqueda M
- Subjects
- Acrosome metabolism, Acrosome physiology, Acrosome Reaction physiology, Actin Cytoskeleton metabolism, Animals, Cattle, Fertilization physiology, Isoenzymes metabolism, Male, Protein Binding, Sperm Motility physiology, Sperm Tail metabolism, Sperm Tail physiology, Spermatozoa metabolism, Actins metabolism, Sperm Capacitation physiology, Spermatozoa physiology, Type C Phospholipases metabolism
- Abstract
The migration pattern of sperm-specific phospholipase C-ζ (PLC-ζ) was followed and the role of this migration in actin cytoskeleton dynamics was determined. We investigated whether PLC-ζ exits sperm, opening the possibility that PLC-ζ is the 'spermatozoidal activator factor' (SOAF). As capacitation progresses, the highly dynamic actin cytoskeleton bound different proteins to regulate their location and activity. PLC-ζ participation at the start of fertilization was established. In non-capacitated spermatozoa, PLC-ζ is in the perinuclear theca (PT) and in the flagellum, therefore it was decided to determine whether bovine sperm actin interacts with PLC-ζ to direct its relocation as it progresses from non-capacitated (NC) to capacitated (C) and to acrosome-reacted (AR) spermatozoa. PLC-ζ interacted with actin in NC spermatozoa (100%), PLC-ζ levels decreased in C spermatozoa to 32% and in AR spermatozoa to 57% (P < 0.001). The level of actin/PLC-ζ interaction was twice as high in G-actin (P < 0.001) that reflected an increase in affinity. Upon reaching the AR spermatozoa, PLC-ζ was partially released from the cell. It was concluded that actin cytoskeleton dynamics control the migration of PLC-ζ during capacitation and leads to its partial release at AR spermatozoa. It is suggested that liberated PLC-ζ could reach the egg and favour fertilization.
- Published
- 2017
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