Actin cytoskeleton and sperm function

Breitbart, Haim; Finkelstein, Maya

doi:10.1016/j.bbrc.2017.11.001

Cited by 31 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 76 publications

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“…Very recently, a role for PIP2 and its downstream effector actin-severing protein gelsolin has been implicated in regulating sperm motility during sperm capacitation. Gelsolin, which is inactivated by its binding to PIP2, translocates from the sperm tail to the head, allowing an increase in F-actin in the tail and increased sperm motility [107,108]. Only capacitated sperm can undergo AR which occurs during sperm penetration through the egg investments of ovulated eggs.…”

Section: Contribution Of Actin Dynamics To Sperm and Egg Activationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cellular and molecular aspects of oocyte maturation and fertilization: a perspective from the actin cytoskeleton

2020

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Much of the scientific knowledge on oocyte maturation, fertilization, and embryonic development has come from the experiments using gametes of marine organisms that reproduce by external fertilization. In particular, echinoderm eggs have enabled the study of structural and biochemical changes related to meiotic maturation and fertilization owing to the abundant availability of large and transparent oocytes and eggs. Thus, in vitro studies of oocyte maturation and sperm-induced egg activation in starfish are carried out under experimental conditions that resemble those occurring in nature. During the maturation process, immature oocytes of starfish are released from the prophase of the first meiotic division, and acquire the competence to be fertilized through a highly programmed sequence of morphological and physiological changes at the oocyte surface. In addition, the changes in the cortical and nuclear regions are essential for normal and monospermic fertilization. This review summarizes the current state of research on the cortical actin cytoskeleton in mediating structural and physiological changes during oocyte maturation and sperm and egg activation in starfish and sea urchin. The common denominator in these studies with echinoderms is that exquisite rearrangements of the egg cortical actin filaments play pivotal roles in gamete interactions, Ca 2+ signaling, exocytosis of cortical granules, and control of monospermic fertilization. In this review, we also compare findings from studies using invertebrate eggs with what is known about the contributions made by the actin cytoskeleton in mammalian eggs. Since the cortical actin cytoskeleton affects microvillar morphology, movement, and positioning of organelles and vesicles, and the topography of the egg surface, these changes have impacts on the fertilization process, as has been suggested by recent morphological studies on starfish oocytes and eggs using scanning electron microscopy. Drawing the parallelism between vitelline layer of echinoderm eggs and the zona pellucida of mammalian eggs, we also discuss the importance of the egg surface in mediating monospermic fertilization.

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Section: Contribution Of Actin Dynamics To Sperm and Egg Activationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cellular and molecular aspects of oocyte maturation and fertilization: a perspective from the actin cytoskeleton

2020

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“…Despite the importance of actin organization and dynamics, little is known about the function and regulation of actin in sperm. The widespread localization of actin along the sperm cell, including equatorial, post-acrosomal region and tail, indicates its crucial role in capacitation, acrosomal exocytosis and motility 53 . Several works support the importance of the proper regulation of actin dynamics for acquisition of sperm fertilizing competence.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cyclic AMP efflux through MRP4 regulates actin dynamics signalling pathway and sperm motility in bovines

Chiarante

Alonso

Plaza³

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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Previously we demonstrated that multidrug resistance-associated protein 4 transporter (MRP4) mediates cAMP efflux in bovine spermatozoa and that extracellular cAMP (ecAMP) triggers events associated to capacitation. Here, we deepen the study of the role of MRP4 in bovine sperm function by using MK571, an MRP4 inhibitor. The incubation of spermatozoa with MK571 during 45 min inhibited capacitation-associated events. MRP4 was localized in post-acrosomal region and mid-piece at 15 min capacitation, while at 45 min it was mainly located in the acrosome. After 15 min, MK571 decreased total sperm motility (TM), progressive motility (PM) and several kinematic parameters. The addition of ecAMP rescued MK571 effect and ecAMP alone increased the percentage of motile sperm and kinematics parameters. Since actin cytoskeleton plays essential roles in the regulation of sperm motility, we investigated if MRP4 activity might affect actin polymerization. After 15 min capacitation, an increase in F-actin was observed, which was inhibited by MK571. This effect was reverted by the addition of ecAMP. Furthermore, ecAMP alone increased F-actin levels while no F-actin was detected with ecAMP in the presence of PKA inhibitors. Our results support the importance of cAMP efflux through MRP4 in sperm capacitation and suggest its involvement in the regulation of actin polymerization and motility.

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“…It is well known that mammalian spermatozoa, once ejaculated, must undergo a complex process called capacitation to become fully fertile. During capacitation several biochemical changes affect the whole sperm physiology, leading to modifications in the chemical composition of the membrane and to a deep cytoskeleton reorganization [8,21,22]. This last event has been deeply studied by different groups and in different species, with the delivering of interesting molecular data that unfortunately still remain unorganized.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cyclin–CDK Complexes are Key Controllers of Capacitation-Dependent Actin Dynamics in Mammalian Spermatozoa

Bernabò

Ramal-Sanchez

Valbonetti

et al. 2019

IJMS

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Mammalian spermatozoa are infertile immediately after ejaculation and need to undergo a functional maturation process to acquire the competence to fertilize the female egg. During this process, called capacitation, the actin cytoskeleton dramatically changes its organization. First, actin fibers polymerize, forming a network over the anterior part of the sperm cells head, and then it rapidly depolymerizes and disappears during the exocytosis of the acrosome content (the acrosome reaction (AR)). Here, we developed a computational model representing the actin dynamics (AD) process on mature spermatozoa. In particular, we represented all the molecular events known to be involved in AD as a network of nodes linked by edges (the interactions). After the network enrichment, using an online resource (STRING), we carried out the statistical analysis on its topology, identifying the controllers of the system and validating them in an experiment of targeted versus random attack to the network. Interestingly, among them, we found that cyclin-dependent kinase (cyclin–CDK) complexes are acting as stronger controllers. This finding is of great interest since it suggests the key role that cyclin–CDK complexes could play in controlling AD during sperm capacitation, leading us to propose a new and interesting non-genomic role for these molecules.

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Actin cytoskeleton and sperm function

Cited by 31 publications

References 76 publications

Cellular and molecular aspects of oocyte maturation and fertilization: a perspective from the actin cytoskeleton

Cellular and molecular aspects of oocyte maturation and fertilization: a perspective from the actin cytoskeleton

Cyclic AMP efflux through MRP4 regulates actin dynamics signalling pathway and sperm motility in bovines

Cyclin–CDK Complexes are Key Controllers of Capacitation-Dependent Actin Dynamics in Mammalian Spermatozoa

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