- Title
- Potential role of a sperm-derived phospholipase C in triggering the egg-activating Ca²⁺ signal at fertilization
- Creator
- Swann, Karl; Parrington, John; Jones, Keith T.
- Relation
- Reproduction Vol. 122, Issue 6, p. 839-846
- Publisher Link
- http://dx.doi.org/10.1530/rep.0.1220839
- Publisher
- BioScientifica
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2001
- Description
- An increase in intracellular Ca²⁺ at fertilization is the trigger for egg activation in all species that have been studied. Exactly how sperm-egg interaction leads to this Ca²⁺ increase has not been established. There is increasing support for the hypothesis that the spermatozoon introduces a Ca²⁺-releasing protein into the egg cytoplasm after gamete membrane fusion. This review discusses the merits of this 'sperm factor' hypothesis and presents evidence indicating that the sperm factor, at least in mammals, consists of a phospholipase C with distinctive properties. This evidence leads us to propose that, after gamete fusion, a sperm-derived phospholipase C causes production of inositol 1,4,5- trisphosphate, which then generates Ca²⁺ waves from within the egg cytoplasm.
- Subject
- egg; sperm; mammals; phospholipase; cytoplasm; fertilization
- Identifier
- uon:6575
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/804275
- Identifier
- ISSN:1470-1626
- Language
- eng
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