title: Involvement of protein serine and threonine phosphorylation in human sperm capacitation.
abstract: The involvement of serine and threonine phosphorylation in human sperm capacitation was investigated. Anti-phosphoserine monoclonal antibody (mAb) recognized six protein bands in the 43-55-kDa, 94 +/- 2-kDa, 110-kDa, and 190-kDa molecular regions, in addition to a faint band each in the 18-kDa and 35-kDa regions. Anti-phosphothreonine mAb recognized protein bands in six similar regions, except that the 18-kDa, 35-kDa, and 94 +/- 2-kDa protein bands were sharper and thicker, and an additional band was observed in the 110-kDa molecular region. In the 43-55-kDa molecular region, there was a well-characterized glycoprotein, designated fertilization antigen, that showed a further increase in serine/threonine phosphorylation after exposure to solubilized human zona pellucida. In a cell-free in vitro kinase assay carried out on beads or in solution, four to eight proteins belonging to similar molecular regions, namely 20 +/- 2 kDa, 43-55 kDa, 94 +/- 2 kDa, and 110 +/- 10 kDa, as well as in 80 +/- 4 and 210 +/- 10 kDa regions, were phosphorylated at dual residues (serine/tyrosine and threonine/tyrosine). Capacitation increased the intensity of serine/threonine phosphorylation per sperm cell, increased the number of sperm cells that were phosphorylated, and induced a subcellular shift in the serine/threonine-specific fluorescence. These findings indicate that protein serine/threonine phosphorylation is involved and may have a physiological role in sperm capacitation.
mesh_terms: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D000941:Antigens / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D019084:Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect; D006801:Humans; D007163:Immunosorbent Techniques; D008297:Male; D008970:Molecular Weight; D010766:Phosphorylation; D010768:Phosphoserine / Q000378:metabolism*; D010769:Phosphothreonine / Q000378:metabolism*; D013075:Sperm Capacitation / Q000502:physiology*; D013084:Sperm-Ovum Interactions; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D015044:Zona Pellucida