Phosphorylation of Triton X-100 soluble and insoluble protein substrates in a demembranated/reactivated human sperm model.
Sperm motility is a process which involves a cascade of events mediated by cAMP and Ca2+, cAMP in the initiation of flagellar movement, and Ca2+ in the regulation of beat asymmetry, and it has been suggested that these two messengers act through phosphorylation/ dephosphorylation of axonemal proteins. Only a few studies on human sperm protein phosphorylation have been reported and no relation of this process with motility or other function has been established. In the present study, phosphorylation of human sperm proteins was performed using detergent-demembranated spermatozoa, in which motility is reactivated by the addition of ATP. This system allows direct accessibility of intracellular kinases to [32P] gamma ATP and allows some relation between protein phosphorylation and flagellar movements. After electrophoresis and autoradiography, numerous phosphoproteins were detected. Phosphorylation of 2 proteins (36 and 51 kDa) was stimulated by cAMP in a concentration-dependent manner, and this increase was prevented by inhibitors of cAMP-dependent protein kinase. In order to characterize phosphoproteins originating from the cytoskeleton or axoneme, detergent extracted spermatozoa were also subjected to phosphorylation. Three major phosphorylated proteins (14.8, 15.3, and 16.2 kDa) were detected, the first two expressing cAMP-dependency according to their cAMP concentration-dependent increase in phosphorylation and the reversal of this effect by inhibitors of cAMP-dependent protein kinase. Proteins phosphorylation during the reactivation of demembranated spermatozoa previously immobilized H2O2, xanthine + xanthine oxidase-generated reactive oxygen species, or the oxidative phosphorylation uncoupler rotenone, revealed increases in cAMP-independent phosphorylation of proteins of 16.2, 46, and 93 kDa. These results documenting human sperm phosphoproteins form a base for further studies on the role of protein phosphorylation in sperm functions.
Leclerc
P
P
Urology Research Laboratory, Royal Victoria Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
Gagnon
C
C
D017868:Cyclic AMP-Dependent Protein Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D003902:Detergents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017830:Octoxynol / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010766:Phosphorylation; D011506:Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D013379:Substrate Specificity
D003902:Detergents; D011506:Proteins; D017830:Octoxynol; D017868:Cyclic AMP-Dependent Protein Kinases