Video Content
How to translate text using browser tools
8 April 2024 A CatSper-Uninvolved Mechanism to Induce Forward Sperm Motility in the Internal Fertilization
Sayuri Goto, Tomoe Takahashi, Tae Sato, Fubito Toyama, Eriko Takayama-Watanabe, Akihiko Watanabe
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

Sperm-specific cation channel (CatSper), sperm-specific Na + /H + exchanger (sNHE), and soluble adenylyl cyclase (sAC) are necessary in the signaling pathways to control sperm motility in many animals, whereas some animals have lost some or all of them. In the present study, we examined CatSper-uninvolved signaling for vigorous undulation of the undulating membrane that is attached to the sperm tail and gives thrust for forward motility in the internally fertilizing newt Cynops pyrrhogaster. Reverse-transcription PCR failed to detect sNHE in the newt sperm. However, the pH of sperm cytoplasm was raised under a high extracellular pH equivalent to that of egg jelly, where sperm motility is initiated by sperm motility-initiating substance (SMIS). Carbonic anhydrase XII/ XVI and SLC4A4/8 were suggested to be present in the sperm, and transported bicarbonates raised the intracellular pH. In egg jelly extract that contained SMIS, the anion transporter inhibitor DIDS weakened the undulation of the undulating membrane, while bicarbonates enhanced it. The cyclic AMP concentration was found to increase in sperm cytoplasm in the egg-jelly extract. An inhibitor of sAC (KH7) weakened the undulation of the undulating membrane, and dibutyryl cyclic AMP blocked the inhibitory effect. Inhibitor of transmembrane AC (DDA) limitedly affected the undulation. The undulation was weakened by an inhibitor of protein kinase A (H89), and by an inhibitor of transient receptor potential (TRP) channels (RN1747). Our results support the conclusions that the high pH of the egg jelly triggers a signaling pathway through sAC, PKA, and TRP channels, and coacts with SMIS to induce forward sperm motility.

Sayuri Goto, Tomoe Takahashi, Tae Sato, Fubito Toyama, Eriko Takayama-Watanabe, and Akihiko Watanabe "A CatSper-Uninvolved Mechanism to Induce Forward Sperm Motility in the Internal Fertilization," Zoological Science 41(3), 302-313, (8 April 2024). https://doi.org/10.2108/zs230046
Received: 4 June 2023; Accepted: 4 January 2024; Published: 8 April 2024
KEYWORDS
adenylyl cyclases
carbonic anhydrases
protein kinase A
sperm motility
TRP channels
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission
Back to Top