␤-TrCP, the F-box protein of the SCF ␤-TrCP ubiquitin ligase (SCF, Skp1͞Cul1͞F-box protein), recognizes the doubly phosphorylated DSG motif (DpSG⌽XpS) in various SCF ␤-TrCP target proteins. The Cdc25A phosphatase, a key cell-cycle regulator in vertebrate cells, undergoes a rapid ubiquitin-dependent degradation in response to genotoxic stress. ␤-TrCP binds to the DSG motif of human Cdc25A in a manner dependent on Chk1 and other unknown kinases. However, Xenopus Cdc25A does not have a DSG motif at the corresponding site of human Cdc25A. Here, we report that both Xenopus Cdc25A and human Cdc25A have a previously undescribed nonphosphorylated DDG motif (DDG⌽XD) for recognition by ␤-TrCP. When analyzed by using Xenopus eggs, the binding of ␤-TrCP to the DDG motif is essential for the Chk1-induced ubiquitination and degradation of Xenopus Cdc25A and also plays a role in the degradation of human Cdc25A. The DDG motif also exists in human Cdc25B phosphatase (another key cell-cycle regulator), binds ␤-TrCP strongly, and is essential for the ubiquitination and degradation of the (labile) phosphatase in normal conditions. We provide strong evidence that, in both Cdc25A and Cdc25B, the binding (efficiency) of ␤-TrCP to the DDG motif is regulated by nearby residues, while ubiquitination is regulated by other events in addition to the ␤-TrCP binding. Finally, our additional data suggest that ␤-TrCP may recognize nonphosphorylated DDG-like motifs in many other proteins, including X11L (a putative suppressor of ␤-amyloid production) and hnRNP-U (a pseudosubstrate of SCF ␤-TrCP ).

In vertebrates, unfertilized eggs (or mature oocytes) are arrested at metaphase of meiosis II by a cytoplasmic activity called cytostatic factor (CSF). The classical Mos-MAPK pathway has long been implicated in CSF arrest of vertebrate eggs, but exactly how it exerts CSF activity remains unclear. Recently, Erp1 (also called Emi2), an inhibitor of the anaphase-promoting complex/cyclosome (APC/C) required for degradation of the mitotic regulator cyclin B (ref. 5), has also been shown to be a component of CSF in both Xenopus and mice. Erp1 is destroyed on fertilization or egg activation, like Mos. However, despite these similarities the Mos-MAPK (mitogen-activated protein kinase) pathway and Erp1 are thought to act rather independently in CSF arrest. Here, we show that p90rsk, the kinase immediately downstream from Mos-MAPK, directly targets Erp1 for CSF arrest in Xenopus oocytes. Erp1 is synthesized immediately after meiosis I, and the Mos-MAPK pathway or p90rsk is essential for CSF arrest by Erp1. p90rsk can directly phosphorylate Erp1 on Ser 335/Thr 336 both in vivo and in vitro, and upregulates both Erp1 stability and activity. Erp1 is also present in early embryos, but has little CSF activity owing, at least in part, to the absence of p90rsk activity. These results clarify the direct link of the classical Mos-MAPK pathway to Erp1 in meiotic arrest of vertebrate oocytes.

To accomplish fertilization in the oviductal ampulla, ejaculated sperm are required to migrate through the female reproductive tract. However, this fundamental process largely remains unknown. In this study, we focused on the role of oviductal smooth muscle (myosalpinx) contractions in the sperm migration. Administration of prifinium bromide, padrin, to mice effectively suppressed myosalpinx contractions, resulting in a decreased rate of fertilization in a dose-dependent manner, and an abrogation of high-speed back-and-forth/shuttling flows of oviductal fluids around the isthmus. Regardless of padrin administration, no shuttling flows were found near the ampulla. In the isthmus, sperm formed a tight assemblage that was synchronized with the shuttling flows. The sperm assemblage was gradually loosened and then completely abolished near the ampulla. No sperm assemblage was formed in the isthmus when padrin was administrated. These results suggest that myosalpinx contractions play important roles in the formation of sperm assemblage in the isthmus, and in the transport of the assemblage to the middle region of the oviduct. It is also suggested that the motility of sperm is essential for the migration of sperm from the middle oviductal region to the ampulla.

Erp1 (also called Emi2), an inhibitor of the APC/C ubiquitin ligase, is a key component of cytostatic factor (CSF) responsible for Meta-II arrest in vertebrate eggs. Reportedly, however, Erp1 is expressed even during meiosis I in Xenopus oocytes. If so, it is a puzzle why normally maturing oocytes cannot arrest at Meta-I. Here, we show that actually Erp1 synthesis begins only around the end of meiosis I in Xenopus oocytes, and that specific inhibition of Erp1 synthesis by morpholino oligos prevents entry into meiosis II. Furthermore, we demonstrate that premature, ectopic expression of Erp1 at physiological Meta-II levels can arrest maturing oocytes at Meta-I. Thus, our results show the essential role for Erp1 in the meiosis I/meiosis II transition in Xenopus oocytes and can explain why normally maturing oocytes cannot arrest at Meta-I.