被子植物助细胞中钙含量的变化

助细胞是被子植物受精过程中花粉管进入胚囊并释放精子及其内容物的场所,而助细胞中不同时期的钙含量与受精作用的顺利完成密切相关。在大多数植物中,助细胞是成熟胚囊中钙含量最高的细胞。传粉后在花粉管中所产生的信号诱导下,助细胞中钙含量还可能继续增加。花粉管进入退化助细胞后,在超高钙环境中破裂并释放精子,精子沿退化助细胞转移到受精靶区实现双受精。随后助细胞中的钙含量迅速降低。因此钙在吸引花粉管、雄配子释放甚至雄配子转移等过程中都发挥了重要作用。     

钙调蛋白依赖的蛋白激酶Ⅱ在卵母细胞减数分裂和受精中的作用

钙调蛋白依赖的蛋白激酶 (CaMK)是一类分布广泛的丝 /苏氨酸蛋白激酶家族 ,在钙离子和钙调蛋白存在的条件下发生自磷酸化而被激活 ,在细胞内对于钙信号的传递具有重要的介导作用 .近年来的研究表明CaMKⅡ是参与调节卵母细胞减数分裂的重要分子 ,在卵母细胞成熟、极体排放、受精和活化等过程中发挥作用 .CaMKⅡ作为Ca2 的下游信号分子 ,在受精后促进成熟促进因子 (MPF)和细胞静止因子 (CSF)的失活 ,并调节纺锤体微管的组装和中心体的复制过程 .虽然CaMKⅡ在减数分裂中的作用广泛而关键 ,但目前的研究主要集中于低等动物和小鼠 ,今后有待进一步阐明该蛋白激酶在其他哺乳动物中的作用和调节机制     

间隙连接蛋白在卵泡发育过程中的作用

间隙连接广泛分布于各种组织细胞中,由其构成的通道允许小分子信号物质在相邻细胞间直接传递,在细胞间的通讯方面起着非常重要的作用。间隙连接由连接蛋白(Cx)组成,目前已经发现Cx家族有20多个成员[1],它们在相邻细胞间组成同种或异种间隙连接,调控着细胞的增殖和分化。在哺乳动物卵泡发育过程中,卵母细胞与周围的颗粒细胞之间形成的缝隙连接,介导胞间通讯,对生殖细胞迁移、卵母细胞减数分裂能力恢复、颗粒细胞分层、卵泡成腔、黄体形成、促性腺激素信号传递有非常重要的调节作用。本文根据近年来相关的研究报道,对卵泡发育过程中间隙连接的作用进行综述。     

牛精子和卵母细胞低温保存研究进展

牛的精子和卵母细胞的低温保存对于畜牧业的发展有重要价值。该文综述了近年来牛精子和卵母细胞低温保存的研究进展,包括保存方法、与低温保存有关的细胞特性、存在的问题和改进的方法等内容。     

钙调蛋白依赖的蛋白激酶Ⅱ在卵母细胞减数分裂和受精中的作用(英)

钙调蛋白依赖的蛋白激酶（CaMK）是一类分布广泛的丝/苏氨酸蛋白激酶家族,在钙离子和钙调蛋白存在的条件下发生自磷酸化而被激活,在细胞内对于钙信号的传递具有重要的介导作用.近年来的研究表明CaMKⅡ是参与调节卵母细胞减数分裂的重要分子,在卵母细胞成熟、极体排放、受精和活化等过程中发挥作用.CaMKⅡ作为Ca²⁺的下游信号分子,在受精后促进成熟促进因子（MPF）和细胞静止因子（CSF）的失活,并调节纺锤体微管的组装和中心体的复制过程.虽然CaMKⅡ在减数分裂中的作用广泛而关键,但目前的研究主要集中于低等动物和小鼠,今后有待进一步阐明该蛋白激酶在其他哺乳动物中的作用和调节机制.     

α-D-甘露糖残基在猪透明带中的分布及其在受精中的作用

为证明α-D-甘露糖残基在猪透明带中的分布及其在受精中的作用,用异硫氰酸荧光素络合小扁豆凝集素(fluorescein isothiocyanate-labelled Lens culinaris,FITC-LCA,一种D-甘露糖特异结合植物凝集素)标记去除卵丘细胞的体外成熟猪卵母细胞,用于观察LCA的标记情况及体外受精,并用甘露聚糖进行体外受精的竞争抑制实验及检测对精子顶体反应的影响.结果显示,LCA均匀标记于整个透明带且呈强荧光反应;LCA标记能够显著减少透明带表面精子结合数量并几乎完全阻断卵母细胞的受精能力;甘露聚糖能够显著降低透明带精子结合数量和卵母细胞的受精率;甘露聚糖在精子培养的不同时间段上都能明显增加顶体反应的精子数量.这些结果表明,猪透明带糖蛋白上的α-D-甘露糖残基是精子受体的重要组成部分,它能够诱导精子发生顶体反应,促进精子侵入透明带.     

α-D-甘露糖残基在猪透明带中的分布及其

为证明α-D-甘露糖残基在猪透明带中的分布及其在受精中的作用, 用异硫氰酸荧光素络合小扁豆凝集素(fluorescein isothiocyanate-labelled Lens culinaris, FITC-LCA,一种D-甘露糖特异结合植物凝集素)标记去除卵丘细胞的体外成熟猪卵母细胞, 用于观察LCA的标记情况及体外受精, 并用甘露聚糖进行体外受精的竞争抑制实验及检测对精子顶体反应的影响. 结果显示, LCA均匀标记于整个透明带且呈强荧光反应; LCA标记能够显著减少透明带表面精子结合数量并几乎完全阻断卵母细胞的受精能力; 甘露聚糖能够显著降低透明带精子结合数量和卵母细胞的受精率; 甘露聚糖在精子培养的不同时间段上都能明显增加顶体反应的精子数量. 这些结果表明, 猪透明带糖蛋白上的α-D-甘露糖残基是精子受体的重要组成部分, 它能够诱导精子发生顶体反应, 促进精子侵入透明带.     

多功能的钙/钙调素依赖的蛋白激酶Ⅱ介导的细胞信号传导

钙调素(Calmodulin,CaM)是一个特别的对钙敏感的蛋白,在钙信号传导通路中扮演重要角色钙/钙调素依赖性蛋白激酶(Calcium/calmodulin-dependent kinases(CaMKs))与荷尔蒙、神经递质及其他信号引起的细胞反应相关作为重要的第二信使,钙/钙调素依赖的蛋白激酶Ⅱ(CaM-KⅡ)是一类在细胞中无所不在的表达的蛋白激酶,能维持细胞内的钙浓度在很低的水平,再增加后续的特定的钙激动刺激.钙/钙调素依赖的蛋白激酶Ⅱ独特的全酶结构和自我调节的性质使其对短暂的钙信号和胞内钙的变化能做出延长反应.本文从结构、合成、细胞分布、反应底物、生理功能等方面介绍了钙/钙调素依赖的蛋白激酶Ⅱ的激活对细胞信号传导的作用.     

TMEM16A：一种钙离子激活的氯离子通道北大核心CSCD

钙激活氯通道(calcium-activated chloride channels,CaCCs)是一类在多种细胞中广泛表达的氯离子通道,介导一系列重要的生理功能。TMEM16A(transmembrane protein 16A)于2008年被确认为CaCCs的分子身份之一。TMEM16A在多种病理生理过程中发挥重要的作用,如卵母细胞多重受精、分泌上皮细胞的液体分泌、平滑肌收缩、神经元兴奋、膜电位调节、感官信号传导以及肿瘤的发生和细胞迁移。近年来,TMEM16A在病理生理学中的作用及其在疾病治疗中的药靶地位受到高度重视。本文对TMEM16A研究的最新进展进行综述。     

钙闪烁——引导细胞定向运动的微区钙信号

细胞迁移在机体发育、器官重塑以及损伤修复等过程中都起着重要作用。在极化的迁移细胞中,存在"前沿低、后沿高"的胞内钙离子浓度梯度,但是,长期以来一直困扰人们的一个问题是:在迁移细胞的引导前沿,钙信号如何控制细胞的定向运动呢?我们发现,前沿低钙信号背景中,存在大量随机发生的微区、动态高钙信号——钙闪烁(Calcium flickers)。钙闪烁由细胞膜上牵张通道TRPM7所介导的钙内流,经内质网膜钙释放通道——Ⅱ型IP3受体——的放大而产生。在趋化运动中,钙闪烁集中于趋化因子浓度较高的一侧,引导细胞转向该侧。阻断钙闪烁,细胞仍能直线迁移,但丧失了在趋化因子作用下转向的能力。因此,钙闪烁的发现及相关研究揭示了微区钙信号是如何通过时空整合,并最终精细地调节细胞转向等复杂的生物学过程。     

Modeling Ca2+ signaling differentiation during oocyte maturation

Ca2+ is a fundamental intracellular signal that mediates a variety of disparate physiological functions often in the same cell. Ca2+ signals span a wide range of spatial and temporal scales, which endow them with the specificity required to induce defined cellular functions. Furthermore, Ca2+ signaling is highly plastic as it is modulated dynamically during normal physiological development and under pathological conditions. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying Ca2+ signaling differentiation during cellular development remain poorly understood. Oocyte maturation in preparation for fertilization provides an exceptionally well-suited model to elucidate Ca2+ signaling regulation during cellular development. This is because a Ca2+ signal with specialized spatial and temporal dynamics is universally essential for egg activation at fertilization. Here we use mathematical modeling to define the critical determinants of Ca2+ signaling differentiation during oocyte maturation. We show that increasing IP3 receptor (IP3R) affinity replicates both elementary and global Ca2+ dynamics observed experimentally following oocyte maturation. Furthermore, our model reveals that because of the Ca2+ dependency of both SERCA and the IP3R, increased IP3R affinity shifts the system's equilibrium to a new steady state of high cytosolic Ca2+, which is essential for fertilization. Therefore our model provides unique insights into how relatively small alterations of the basic molecular mechanisms of Ca2+ signaling components can lead to dramatic alterations in the spatio-temporal properties of Ca2+ dynamics.     

Alzheimer's presenilin-1 mutation potentiates inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate-mediated calcium signaling in Xenopus oocytes

Perturbations in intracellular Ca2+ signaling may represent one mechanism underlying Alzheimer's disease (AD). The presenilin-1 gene (PS1), associated with the majority of early onset familial AD cases, has been implicated in this signaling pathway. Here we used the Xenopus oocyte expression system to investigate in greater detail the role of PS1 in intracellular Ca2+ signaling pathways. Treatment of cells expressing wild-type PS1 with a cell surface receptor agonist to stimulate the phosphoinositide second messenger pathway evoked Ca2+-activated Cl- currents that were significantly potentiated relative to controls. To determine which elements of the signal transduction pathway are responsible for the potentiation, we used photolysis of caged inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3) and fluorescent Ca2+ imaging to demonstrate that PS1 potentiates IP3-mediated release of Ca2+ from internal stores. We show that an AD-linked mutation produces a potentiation in Ca2+ signaling that is significantly greater than that observed for wild-type PS1 and that cannot be attributed to differences in protein expression levels. Our findings support a role for PS1 in modulating IP3-mediated Ca2+ liberation and suggest that one pathophysiological mechanism by which PS1 mutations contribute to AD neurodegeneration may involve perturbations of this function.     

Ca2+ signaling differentiation during oocyte maturation

Oocyte maturation is an essential cellular differentiation pathway that prepares the egg for activation at fertilization leading to the initiation of embryogenesis. An integral attribute of oocyte maturation is the remodeling of Ca2+ signaling pathways endowing the egg with the capacity to produce a specialized Ca2+ transient at fertilization that is necessary and sufficient for egg activation. Consequently, mechanistic elucidation of Ca2+ signaling differentiation during oocyte maturation is fundamental to our understanding of egg activation, and offers a glimpse into Ca2+ signaling regulation during the cell cycle.     

植物钙感受器及其介导的逆境信号途径

钙信号是植物生长发育和逆境响应的重要调控因子, 是植物生理与逆境生物学研究领域中的热点之一。当植物细胞受到外界逆境刺激时, 其胞内会产生具有时空特异性的Ca2+信号变化, 这种变化首先被胞内钙感受器所感知并解码, 再由钙感受器互作蛋白将信号传递到下游, 从而激活下游早期响应基因的表达或相关离子通道的活性, 最终产生特异性逆境响应。植物细胞通过感知胞内钙信号的变化如何识别来自外界不同性质或不同强度的刺激, 是近几年植物生物学家所关注的科学问题。文章主要总结了近几年在植物钙感受器研究领域中的最新进展, 包括钙依赖蛋白激酶(CDPKs)、钙调素(CaMs)、类钙调素蛋白(CMLs)、类钙调磷酸酶B蛋白(CBLs)及其互作蛋白激酶(CIPKs)等的结构、功能及其介导的逆境信号途径, 并提供新的见解和展望。     

钙离子信号与细胞凋亡

细胞凋亡的分子机制是什么?这个问题当前引起人们广泛的研究兴趣。作为重要的第二信使,钙信号在许多生理和细胞活动中都起到了十分重要的作用。钙信号是否也在凋亡的调控中起作用呢?虽然在过去十多年中,许多研究证据都表明钙信号参与凋亡的调控,但是,钙信号如何作用于凋亡过程的具体机理仍然是众说纷纭。事实上,许多研究结果仍存有争议。文章总结了近几年来大量关于钙信号与凋亡研究的成果,集中讨论了两个问题：1)在凋亡前期“决定阶段”有没有钙离子信号的参与?2)钙离子信号与哪些凋亡调控因子(包括Bcl-2族蛋白)相互作用及如何作用?这问题还牵涉到亚细胞结构中钙库的作用(包括细胞质、内质网和线粒体)。根据作者自己的实验结果,文章对这些文献中不同的说法作了一些具体的评估。最后,文章还提出了一个钙离子信号参与调控细胞凋亡的可能模型。     

Calcium signaling differentiation during Xenopus oocyte maturation

Ca(2+) is the universal signal for egg activation at fertilization in all sexually reproducing species. The Ca(2+) signal at fertilization is necessary for egg activation and exhibits specialized spatial and temporal dynamics. Eggs acquire the ability to produce the fertilization-specific Ca(2+) signal during oocyte maturation. However, the mechanisms regulating Ca(2+) signaling differentiation during oocyte maturation remain largely unknown. At fertilization, Xenopus eggs produce a cytoplasmic Ca(2+) (Ca(2+)(cyt)) rise that lasts for several minutes, and is required for egg activation. Here, we show that during oocyte maturation Ca(2+) transport effectors are tightly modulated. The plasma membrane Ca(2+) ATPase (PMCA) is completely internalized during maturation, and is therefore unable to extrude Ca(2+) out of the cell. Furthermore, IP(3)-dependent Ca(2+) release is required for the sustained Ca(2+)(cyt) rise in eggs, showing that Ca(2+) that is pumped into the ER leaks back out through IP(3) receptors. This apparent futile cycle allows eggs to maintain elevated cytoplasmic Ca(2+) despite the limited available Ca(2+) in intracellular stores. Therefore, Ca(2+) signaling differentiates in a highly orchestrated fashion during Xenopus oocyte maturation endowing the egg with the capacity to produce a sustained Ca(2+)(cyt) transient at fertilization, which defines the egg's competence to activate and initiate embryonic development.     

Protein kinase A and two phosphatases are components of the inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor macromolecular signaling complex

The inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor (IP3R) is a ubiquitously expressed intracellular calcium (Ca(2+)) release channel on the endoplasmic reticulum. IP3Rs play key roles in controlling Ca(2+) signals that activate numerous cellular functions including T cell activation, neurotransmitter release, oocyte fertilization and apoptosis. There are three forms of IP3R, all of which are ligand-gated channels activated by the second messenger inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate. Channel function is modulated via cross-talk with other signaling pathways including those mediated by kinases and phosphatases. In particular IP3Rs are known to be regulated by cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA) phosphorylation. In the present study we show that PKA and the protein phosphatases PP1 and PP2A are components of the IP3R1 macromolecular signaling complex. PKA phosphorylation of IP3R1 increases channel activity in planar lipid bilayers. These studies indicate that regulation of IP3R1 function via PKA phosphorylation involves components of a macromolecular signaling complex.     

植物中的H2O2信号及其功能

H2O2是植物细胞的信号分子,是细胞正常代谢的产物,生物和非生物胁迫促使植物细胞产生H2O2,通过H2O2信号应答胁迫.H2O2信号调控一系列重要的植物生理生化过程,如系统获得抗性(SAR)和高度敏感抗性(HR)、细胞衰老与程序化细胞死亡(PCD)、气孔关闭、根的向地性、根的生长和不定根形成、细胞壁的发育、柱头与花粉的发育及相互关系等.Ca2+流动和可逆蛋白磷酸化作用是H2O2下游信号,通过MAPK级联作用于转录因子,最终调控基因的表达.H2O2调控多种基因的表达,包括编码抗氧化酶基因、调控程序化细胞死亡相关蛋白基因、生物与非生物胁迫应答蛋白基因等.     

Increased sensitivity and clustering of elementary Ca2+ release events during oocyte maturation

The universal signal for egg activation at fertilization is a rise in cytoplasmic Ca(2+) with defined spatial and temporal kinetics. Mammalian and amphibian eggs acquire the ability to produce such Ca(2+) signals during a maturation period that precedes fertilization and encompasses resumption of meiosis and progression to metaphase II. In Xenopus, immature oocytes produce fast, saltatory Ca(2+) waves that can be oscillatory in nature in response to IP(3). In contrast, mature eggs produce a single continuous, sweeping Ca(2+) wave in response to IP(3) or sperm fusion. The mechanisms mediating the differentiation of Ca(2+) signaling during oocyte maturation are not well understood. Here, I characterized elementary Ca(2+) release events (Ca(2+) puffs) in oocytes and eggs and show that the sensitivity of IP(3)-dependent Ca(2+) release is greatly enhanced during oocyte maturation. Furthermore, Ca(2+) puffs in eggs have a larger spatial fingerprint, yet are short lived compared to oocyte puffs. Most interestingly, Ca(2+) puffs cluster during oocyte maturation resulting in a continuum of Ca(2+) release sites over space in eggs. These changes in the spatial distribution of elementary Ca(2+) release events during oocyte maturation explain the continuous nature and slower speed of the fertilization Ca(2+) wave.     

Calcium,a pivotal player in photodynamic therapy?

Photodynamic therapy combines three non-toxic components: light, oxygen and a photosensitizer to generate singlet oxygen and/or other ROS molecules in order to target destruction of cancer cells. The damage induced in the targeted cells can furthermore propagate to non-exposed bystander cells thereby exacerbating the damage. Ca²⁺ signaling is strongly intertwined with ROS signaling and both play crucial roles in cell death. In this review we aimed to review current knowledge on the role of Ca²⁺ and ROS signaling, their effect on cell-cell propagation via connexin-linked mechanisms and the outcome in terms of cell death. In general, photodynamic therapy results in an increased cytosolic Ca²⁺ concentration originating from Ca²⁺ entry or Ca²⁺ release from internal stores. While photodynamic therapy can certainly induce cell death, the outcome depends on the cell type and the photosensitizer used. Connexin channels propagating the Ca²⁺ signal, and presumably regenerating ROS at distance, may play a role in spreading the effect to neighboring non-exposed bystander cells. Given the various cell types and photosensitizers used, there is currently no unified signaling scheme to explain the role of Ca²⁺ and connexins in the responses following photodynamic therapy. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Calcium signaling in health, disease and therapy edited by Geert Bultynck and Jan Parys.