title: Black tea high-molecular-weight polyphenol increases the motility of sea urchin sperm by activating mitochondrial respiration.
abstract: Mitochondria activation factor (MAF) is a high-molecular-weight polyphenol purified from black tea that activates mitochondrial respiration. It increased the mitochondrial membrane potential and motility of sea urchin sperm, by up to 8%, to the same extent as sperm-activating peptides (SAPs) secreted by the egg. Unlike SAPs, MAF had no effect on sperm swimming behavior, suggesting that the mechanism of sperm activation by MAF is different from that of SAPs.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
authors.forename: Ayako
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kikuchi
authors.forename: Kogiku
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shiba
authors.forename: Tetsuo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ozawa
authors.forename: Kentaro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakano
authors.forename: Kazuo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Inaba
authors.forename: Osamu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Numata
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019069:Cell Respiration / Q000187:drug effects; D008297:Male; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism*; D008970:Molecular Weight; D059808:Polyphenols / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D012617:Sea Urchins; D013081:Sperm Motility / Q000187:drug effects*; D013662:Tea / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D059808:Polyphenols; D013662:Tea