Click here to close Hello! We notice that you are using Internet Explorer, which is not supported by Echinobase and may cause the site to display incorrectly. We suggest using a current version of Chrome, FireFox, or Safari.
Echinobase
ECB-ART-42475
Biophys J 2012 Jun 06;10211:2481-8. doi: 10.1016/j.bpj.2012.03.075.
Show Gene links Show Anatomy links

What is the core oscillator in the speract-activated pathway of the Strongylocentrotus purpuratus sperm flagellum?

Aguilera LU , Galindo BE , Sánchez D , Santillán M .


???displayArticle.abstract???
Sperm chemotaxis has an important role in fertilization. Most of our knowledge regarding this phenomenon comes from studies in organisms whose fertilization occurs externally, like sea urchins. Sea urchin spermatozoa respond to sperm-activating peptides, which diffuse from the egg jelly coat and interact with their receptor in the flagellum, triggering several physiological responses: changes in membrane potential, intracellular pH, cyclic nucleotide levels, and intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]). In particular, flagellar [Ca2+] has been shown to oscillate. These [Ca2+] oscillations are correlated with changes in the flagellar shape and so with the regulation of the sperm swimming paths. In this study, we demonstrate, from a mathematical modeling perspective, that the reported speract-activated signaling pathway in Strongylocentrotus purpuratus (speract being a sperm-activating peptide specific to this species) has the necessary elements to replicate the reported [Ca2+] oscillations. We further investigate which elements of this signaling pathway constitute the core oscillator.

???displayArticle.pubmedLink??? 22713563
???displayArticle.pmcLink??? PMC3368143
???displayArticle.link??? Biophys J


Genes referenced: LOC100887844 LOC576642

References [+] :
Aguilera, What is the core oscillator in the speract-activated pathway of the Strongylocentrotus purpuratus sperm flagellum? 2012, Pubmed