title: Protein kinase C activity in boar sperm.
abstract: Male germ cells undergo different processes within the female reproductive tract to successfully fertilize the oocyte. These processes are triggered by different extracellular stimuli leading to activation of protein phosphorylation. Protein kinase C (PKC) is a key regulatory enzyme in signal transduction mechanisms involved in many cellular processes. Studies in boar sperm demonstrated a role for PKC in the intracellular signaling involved in motility and cellular volume regulation. Experiments using phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) showed increases in the Serine/Threonine phosphorylation of substrates downstream of PKC in boar sperm. In order to gain knowledge about those cellular processes regulated by PKC, we evaluate the effects of PMA on boar sperm motility, lipid organization of plasma membrane, integrity of acrosome membrane and sperm agglutination. Also, we investigate the crosstalk between PKA and PKC intracellular pathways in spermatozoa from this species. The results presented here reveal a participation of PKC in sperm motility regulation and membrane fluidity changes, which is probably associated to acrosome reaction and to agglutination. Also, we show the existence of a hierarchy in the kinases pathway. Previous works on boar sperm suggest a pathway in which PKA is positioned upstream to PKC and this new results support such model.
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Medicina Reproductiva, Facultad de Ciencias Bioquímicas y Farmacéuticas, Universidad Nacional de Rosario, Rosario, Argentina.|Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Rosario, Argentina.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Teijeiro
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Medicina Reproductiva, Facultad de Ciencias Bioquímicas y Farmacéuticas, Universidad Nacional de Rosario, Rosario, Argentina.|Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Rosario, IBR-CONICET, Rosario, Argentina.|Consejo de Investigaciones de la Universidad Nacional de Rosario, Rosario, Argentina.
authors.forename: P E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Marini
authors.affiliation: Research Group of Intracellular Signaling and Technology of Reproduction (SINTREP), School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Extremadura, Caceres, Spain.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Bragado
authors.affiliation: Research Group of Intracellular Signaling and Technology of Reproduction (SINTREP), School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Extremadura, Caceres, Spain.
authors.forename: L J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Garcia-Marin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology; D008297:Male; D010766:Phosphorylation / Q000187:drug effects; D011493:Protein Kinase C / Q000378:metabolism*; D013081:Sperm Motility / Q000187:drug effects; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology*; D013552:Swine; D013755:Tetradecanoylphorbol Acetate / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D011493:Protein Kinase C; D013755:Tetradecanoylphorbol Acetate
keywords: boar sperm; membrane fluidity; protein kinase C