title: Calcium ion regulation of chirality of beating flagellum of reactivated sea urchin spermatozoa.
abstract: Near an interface, sea urchin spermatozoa swim almost in circles. The direction is usually clockwise at the lower surface of a coverslip and counterclockwise at the upper surface of a glass slide, when viewed from above. Examination of demembranated spermatozoa has shown that Ca2+ regulates the direction of the circular motion of spermatozoa reactivated with adenosine triphosphate (ATP). This finding suggests that Ca2+ changes the chirality of the three-dimensional bending waves of sperm flagella.
authors.affiliation: Biological Laboratory, Faculty of Science, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ishijima
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hamaguchi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D055592:Biophysical Phenomena; D001703:Biophysics; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology; D008297:Male; D009068:Movement / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D012399:Rotation; D012617:Sea Urchins / Q000502:physiology*; D013081:Sperm Motility / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D013082:Sperm Tail / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D002118:Calcium