- Title
- Calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II triggers mouse egg activation and embryo development in the absence of Ca²⁺ oscillations
- Creator
- Knott, Jason G.; Gardner, Allison J.; Madgwick, Suzanne; Jones, Keith T.
- Relation
- Developmental Biology Vol. 296, Issue 2, p. 388-395
- Publisher Link
- http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ydbio.2006.06.004
- Publisher
- Academic Press
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2006
- Description
- Fertilization in mammalian eggs is accompanied by oscillatory changes in intracellular Ca²⁺ concentration, which are critical for initiating and completing egg activation events and the developmental program. Ca²⁺/Camodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) is a multifunctional enzyme that is postulated to be the downstream transducer of the Ca²⁺ signal in many cell types. We tested the hypothesis that CaMKII is the major integrator of Ca²⁺-induced egg activation events and embryo development by microinjecting a cRNA that encodes a constitutively active (Ca²⁺-independent) mutant form of CaMKII (CA-CaMKII) into mouse eggs. Expression of this cRNA, which does not increase intracellular Ca²⁺, induced a sustained rise in CaMKII activity and triggered egg activation events, including cell cycle resumption, and degradation and recruitment of maternal mRNAs; cortical granule exocytosis, however, did not occur normally. Furthermore, when mouse eggs were injected with sperm devoid of Ca²⁺-releasing activity and activated with either CA-CaMKII cRNA or by SrCl₂,similar rates and incidence of development to the blastocyst stage were observed. These results strongly suggest that CaMKII is a major integrator of the Ca²⁺ changes that occur following fertilization.
- Subject
- egg activation; mouse; embryo development; calcium; calmodulin
- Identifier
- uon:6564
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/804248
- Identifier
- ISSN:0012-1606
- Language
- eng
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