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Extracellular signal‐regulated kinase activation involved in human sperm‐ zona pellucida binding
Author(s) -
Du Plessis S. S.,
Page C.,
Franken D. R.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
andrologia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.633
H-Index - 59
eISSN - 1439-0272
pISSN - 0303-4569
DOI - 10.1046/j.0303-4569.2001.00475.x
Subject(s) - mapk/erk pathway , zona pellucida , sperm , extracellular , protein kinase a , acrosome reaction , microbiology and biotechnology , kinase , chemistry , andrology , signal transduction , acrosome , biology , oocyte , medicine , embryo
Summary. In a previous study involving the inhibition of the mitogen‐activated protein kinase (MAPK), extracellular signal regulated kinase (ERK), we found that the very specific MAPK kinase (MEK) inhibitor, PD098059, inhibited the zona pellucida (ZP) induced acrosome reaction. As an intact acrosome on the spermatozoa is a prerequisite in ensuring tight binding to the ZP, we investigated the zona binding potential of spermatozoa after PD098059 treatment of sperm, followed by exposure to solubilised human ZP and calcium ionophore (A23187). PD098059 treated spermatozoa, exposed to solubilised ZP, bound significantly more to the ZP, as compared to control spermatozoa also exposed to solubilised ZP (26.5±3.7 vs. 13.8±2.8, P <0.05). No significant differences in binding to the ZP were observed between PD098059 treated and untreated sperm populations after A23187 exposure. These results can be interpreted to support the idea that the ZP‐induced AR is the physiologically relevant exocytotic event, as it is the ZP‐induced AR, and not the spontaneous (culture medium) or A23187 induced AR, that appears to be mediated through an ERK‐mediated signal transduction process.