Synergistic actions of disulfide-reducing agents on 1-methyladenine-induced oocyte maturation in starfish.
Several disulfide-reducing agents, such as dithiothreitol, 2,3-dimercapto-1-propanol, cysteine ethyl ester, and cysteine methyl ester enhanced the effectiveness of 1-methyladenine (1-MeAde) to induce oocyte maturation in the starfish Asterina pectinifera. This enhancement occurred at relatively low concentrations at which these agents by themselves were ineffective in inducing oocyte maturation. The agents caused a marked (about twofold) increase in specific [1-3H]MeAde binding. The binding increased directly in relation to the potency of the agents in enhancing 1-MeAde action. Scatchard analysis indicated that dithiothreitol increased the Bmax without affecting the affinity of 1-MeAde binding. These results strongly suggest that disulfide-reducing agents enhance the maturational action of 1-MeAde by increasing the number of 1-MeAde binding sites in oocyte cortices.
Yoshikuni
M
M
Department of Developmental Biology, National Institute for Basic Biology, Okazaki, Japan.
Ishikawa
K
K
Isobe
M
M
Goto
T
T
Nagahama
Y
Y
D000225:Adenine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D003545:Cysteine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000494:pharmacology; D004112:Dimercaprol / Q000494:pharmacology; D004220:Disulfides / Q000378:metabolism*; D004229:Dithiothreitol / Q000494:pharmacology; D004357:Drug Synergism; D009865:Oocytes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D013215:Starfish
D004220:Disulfides; D004112:Dimercaprol; C031752:ethyl cysteine; C008407:1-methyladenine; D000225:Adenine; D003545:Cysteine; C017507:mecysteine; D004229:Dithiothreitol