Chymotrypsin-like enzymes are involved in sperm penetration through the vitelline coat of Ciona intestinalis egg

In Ciona intestinalis, sperm penetration through the egg vitelline coat is an essential event of fertilization. We investigated whether trypsin- and chymotrypsin-like enzymes are involved in this event. Inhibitors and peptide substrates for chymotrypsin-like enzymes blocked the overall process of fertilization in a concentration-dependent manner. The inhibitory activity was specifically exerted on the step of sperm penetration. Chymotrypsin-like protease activity was identified in spermatozoa with the fluorogenic synthetic substrate Suc-Ala-Ala-Phe-AMC, which was the most effective substrate in blocking sperm penetration. These data indicate that a chymotrypsin-like protease activity is a sperm lysin of Ciona intestinalis.     

Mode of interaction between lysozyme and the other proteins of the hen's egg vitelline membrane

Salt solutions and charged detergents are efficient solubilizing agents for ovovitelline membrane lysozyme. Reassociation experiments with chemically modified lysozymes indicate that positively charged amino acid residues of lysozyme (the epsilon-amino group of lysine and the guanidino group of arginine) are involved in the interaction with other proteins of the vitelline membrane. Exogenous proteins are adsorbed to lysozyme-free vitelline membranes, only if they have a high pI, comparable to that of lysozyme. It is concluded that the lysozyme-ovovitelline membrane interaction is predominantly ionic. An ovomucin-lysozyme complex is postulated as the major component of the outer layer of the membrane.     

Proteomic analysis of the chicken egg vitelline membrane

The avian vitelline membrane (VM) is a multilayered proteinaceous structure separating egg white from yolk. The innermost layer of the VM, deposited onto the oocyte plasma membrane in the ovary, corresponds to the mammalian zona pellucida (ZP). The outer layer is produced in the infundibulum, the first section of the oviduct. Using high-throughput, high-end LC-MS(n) 137 proteins were identified, only 13 of which were known previously to be components of the VM. Depending on the washing protocol, two largely overlapping, but not identical, sets of identified proteins were produced from water-washed and salt-washed VMs. Most of the components of the VM were known previously from other egg compartments, such as, for instance, the egg white proteins lysozyme C, ovalbumin, ovotransferrin, and ovomucin. Specific components of the VM not identified previously in other egg compartments included eight ZP proteins, oviductin protease, and two ATPases. The vitelline outer membrane protein (VMO) VMO II was identified as beta-defensin-11. The list of VM proteins presented in this report is by far the most comprehensive dataset available at present and complements proteomic analyses of chicken egg compartments published previously.     

Scanning electron microscopy of the vitelline membrane of the hen ovum

Manual removal of the perivitelline layer overlying the animal pole (AP) reveals three morphologically distinct regions of the vitelline membrane (VM). (1) The central germinal region is 600-800 micron in diameter and is densely populated with pleomorphic microvillous projections. (2) The periblastic region, which also exhibits microvillous projections, is 250-550 micron wide and consists of numerous (80-120) lacunae that are 10-60 micron in diameter and up to 20 micron in depth. (3) At the outer periblastic region, the microvillous projections are less numerous. In the vegetal hemisphere, the VM has few projections and occasionally is discontinuous.     

A protein from abalone sperm dissolves the egg vitelline layer by a nonenzymatic mechanism

Unfertilized abalone eggs (Haliotis rufescens) possess an elevated fibrous glycoproteinaceous vitelline layer (VL) about 0.6 μm in thickness. Sperm bind to the VL by the tip of a large unreacted acrosome granule. After binding, the tip of the granule opens and the soluble contents are released onto the VL. A hole about 3 μm in diameter then forms in the VL in the area of the discharging acrosome. Ultrastructural observations show the hole to be filled with attenuated VL fibers. The sperm then swims through the hole and interacts with the egg plasma membrane. The soluble contents of abalone acrosomes can be obtained by induction of the acrosome reaction in high-calcium seawater. Two major proteins of subunit molecular weights 13,000 (13K) and 15,000 (15K) are found in the supernatant after removal of the reacted sperm by centrifugation. Gel analysis of whole sperm shows these two proteins are the major components of the cell. The 13K protein can be purified on the basis of its solubility at lower ionic strength. This protein is a potent solubilizer (lysin) of egg vitelline layers. Characterization of the 13K lysin yields an isoelectric point of about 9, basic amino acids accounting for 19.6% of its weight, a negative PAS reaction, a nondenatured-molecular-weight estimate of 17,000, the presence of exposed hydrophobic regions, and a lack of enzyme activity. The lytic action of the 13K protein is rapidly inactivated by boiling, showing that the native conformation is necessary for activity. The lysin does not degrade the macromolecular components of the VL. It does not produce reducing sugars, peptides, lysophosphatides, or SH groups. A turbidometric assay for lysin activity was developed using isolated VLs and 13K lysin. When lysin is added to VLs in seawater the dissolution action occurs for only 15–30 sec before abruptly stopping. Mixing various amounts of lysin with a constant amount of VLs shows that the lysin dissolves VLs by a stoichiometric, noncatalytic (nonenzymatic) mechanism. For example, about 11 μg of lysin are required for the complete dissolution of 63 μg of VL protein (the VL is 36% protein). An identical conclusion was reached by K. Haino-Fukushima (1974, Biochim. Biophys. Acta, 352, 179–191) working with an 8.8K lysin of another archeogastropod, Tegula pfeifferi. Isolated abalone VLs are composed of about five major glycoproteins ranging in molecular weight from 32 to 44K. High ionic strength such as 2 M KCl does not solubilize VLs, but agents which destroy hydrophobic bonds between macromolecules, such as NaSCN, dimethylsulfoxide, and heat, are VL solubilizers. Exposed hydrophobic portions of the lysin might bind to the hydrophobic regions of VL glycoproteins and competitively dissociate the VL fibers from each other, thus, destroying the VL's structural integrity. Stoichiometric mechanisms for making holes in egg investments may be more biologically attractive than enzymatic mechanisms. A stoichiometric reaction would be quickly self-limiting and nondegradative to other cell surface components.     

Monoclonal antibodies to the sea urchin egg vitelline layer inhibit fertilization by blocking sperm adhesion

Thirty-one mouse hybridomas were produced against the vitelline layer (VL) of the egg of the sea urchin S. purpuratus. Ascites fluids of eight of the 31 bound to the VL surface in the high ionic strength conditions of sea water. Binding was specific to the VL, since immunofluorescence showed that the antibodies elevated from the egg surface with the fertilization envelope after activation with ionophore A23187. Antibody binding was strictly species-specific, the eggs of L. pictus showing no reaction. An immunoperoxidase surface-binding assay showed a wide range in the amount of each monoclonal antibody binding to the VL surface at saturation. All eight monoclonals inhibit fertilization by inhibiting the binding of sperm to the VL. None of the eight ascites fluids reacted with egg jelly. The inhibition of fertilization correlates positively with amount of antibody binding the egg surface. In contrast to the effects of polyclonal rabbit antisera raised against whole eggs or egg cortices, these eight monoclonal antibodies to the VL do not induce the wrinkling of the egg, the cortical granule reaction, the centering of pronuclei, or any other visual indication of metabolic activation.     

Nucleoside triphosphatase from the hen's egg white and vitelline membrane: purification, properties and relation to similar enzymes from the oviduct.

Hen's egg white and vitelline membrane nucleoside triphosphatases were purified resulting in active soluble subunits with MR 260,000 +/- 10,000. PH optima are divalent cation dependent and situated at pH 6.2 and 8.0 with ATP and at pH 6.15 with ADP as substrate. Ca2+ and Mg2+ are activators. Km and Ki values for Pi and PPi were determined. The enzymes are specific neither for ATP nor for ADP alone. No separation between nucleoside triphosphatase and nucleoside diphosphatase could be achieved. Differences found in their action can be due to differences in organization and properties of the (intermediary) enzyme-substrate complexes. A close relationship exists with homologous enzymes found in oviductal secretory cells and in oviductal secretions.     

Interspecies chimeric sperm lysins identify regions mediating species-specific recognition of the abalone egg vitelline envelope.

Abalone sperm lysin is a nonenzymatic, 16-kDa protein that creates a hole in the egg vitelline envelope (VE) through which the sperm swims to fuse with the egg. The dissolution of isolated VE by lysin is species specific. Interspecies comparisons show that the most divergent region of lysin is the N-terminal segment of residues 1-12 which is always species-unique. The C-terminus and three internal segments are moderately variable between species, but not species unique. Analysis of nucleotide substitutions shows that lysin evolves rapidly by positive Darwinian selection, suggesting that there is adaptive value in altering its amino acid sequence. The results reported here, in which segments of lysin were exchanged between two species, prove by direct experimentation that the interspecies variable termini play major roles in the species-specific recognition between sperm lysin and the egg VE.     

Inhibition of human sperm acrosin by synthetic agents.

Twenty-two synthetic proteinase inhibitors were tested for their inhibitory properties towards human acrosin. p-Nitrophenyl-p1-guanidino benzoate (NPGB) was the most effective (K1 value of 1-5 X 10(-8) M), producing a non-competitive type of inhibition in contrast to all other inhibitors which showed a competitive type of inhibition. The Michaelis constant for human acrosin on BAEE at pH 8-1 was calculated to be 4-25 X 10(-5) M.     

Full-length sequence of VERL,the egg vitelline envelope receptor for abalone sperm lysin

Abalone sperm use 16 kDa lysin to create a hole in the egg vitelline envelope (VE) by a species-specific, nonenzymatic mechanism. To create the hole, lysin binds tightly to VERL (the VE receptor for lysin), a giant, unbranched glycoprotein comprising 30% of the VE. Binding of lysin to VERL causes the VERL molecules to lose cohesion and splay apart creating the hole. Lysin and VERL represent a cognate pair of gamete recognition proteins, one male the other female, which mediate fertilization. The coevolution of such cognate pairs may underlie the establishment of species-specific fertilization which could be a component of the mechanism to achieve reproductive isolation and hence new species. Here we present the full-length cDNA sequence (11,166 bp) of VERL from the red abalone (Haliotis rufescens). There are 42 amino acids from the start Met residue to the beginning of the first 'VERL repeat'. Most of VERL (9981 bp; 89.4%) consists of 22 tandem repeats of a approximately 153 amino acid sequence that is predicted to be beta-sheet. The last VERL repeat is followed by 353 non-repeat amino acid residues containing a furin cleavage site (RTRR), a ZP domain and a hydrophobic COOH-terminus with a 3' UTR of only 10 nucleotides. VERL repeats 3-22 have been subjected to concerted evolution and consequently have almost identical sequences. Curiously, comparisons of repeats from other species shows that repeats 1 and 2 of red abalone VERL have not been subjected to concerted evolution since the divergence of the red species from the other six California species.     

Egg white lysozyme is the major protein of the hen's egg vitelline membrane

Lysozyme accounts for 37% of the proteins of the hen's egg vitelline membrane. It can be extracted by salt solutions and purified by gel filtration on Sephadex G-50. There are no differences between the chemical and enzymic properties of egg white and vitelline membrane lysozymes. Vitelline membranes of ovarian eggs do not contain lysozyme. It is thus concluded that lysozyme is localized in the outer layer. Vitelline membranes from fertilized and unfertilized eggs contain the same amount of lysozyme; its percentage decreases after two days of incubation.     

Involvement of carbohydrate moieties of the toad egg vitelline coat in binding with fertilizing sperm

Vitelline coats (VC) were isolated from the eggs of Bufo japonicus , and were added with sperm in reconstituted salt solution, which mimics the physiological role of jelly envelopes, to determine the rates of sperm binding per unit area (0.2 mm²) of VC. The rate of sperm binding to VC from uterine eggs was high, but was low to VC from coelomic eggs and eggs activated in 1/20 De Boer's solution (DB) and moderately low to VC from eggs activated in DB. The binding rate increased when VC from coelomic eggs were treated with extracts of the pars recta portion of the oviduct. The sperm that bound to VC were not acrosome-reacted and their binding to VC required both a low salinity, assuring motility of sperm, and sufficiently high levels of Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺. The rate of sperm binding was reduced by either coexisting solubilized VC materials, periodate-oxidation of VC or the pretreatment of VC with Fab fragments of anti-VC antibodies, which reacted mostly to carbohydrate residues of VC glycoproteins. Sperm-VC binding assays in combination with gel-filtrated VC components revealed that the fractions containing 36–39 kDa components were most effective both in inhibiting the binding and in neutralizing the antibody induced inhibition of binding. These results indicate that carbohydrate moieties in 36–39 kDa glycoproteins of VC, exposed as a result of hydrolysis by the oviducal pars recta protease, are involved in binding with fertilizing sperm.     

The relations of the plasma membrane,vitelline membrane,and jelly in the egg of Nereis limbata

1. The problem of the relation of the plasma membrane to the extraneous coats and cortex of the Nereis egg is discussed in the light of the observations of Lillie, Chambers, and Novikoff. 2. Evidence obtained from experiments with the centrifuge, and by treating eggs with alkaline sodium chloride, indicates that the plasma membrane of the unfertilized egg is external to the jelly precursor granules of the cortex. 3. Experiments with alkaline sodium chloride indicate that the perivitelline space of the fertilized egg is extraovular after jelly extrusion is complete. 4. The cortical behavior (membrane elevation) of the Nereis egg in alkaline sodium chloride and the cortical response (jelly extrusion) following activation of the egg in normal fertilization or parthenogenesis are attributed largely to the properties of the jelly, and presumably, to its reactions with calcium and hydroxyl ions.     

Macromolecular components of the vitelline membrane of hen's egg. I. Membrane structure and its deterioration with age.

The vitelline membrane of hen's egg has been successfully solubilized in sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), guanidine hydrochloride and urea solutions, and its macromolecular components examined. SDS-gel electrophoresis of the membrane solution revealed the presence of three major components designated I, II, and III, all containing carbohydrate and protein. The approximate molecular weights of components I and II were 32,000 and 260,000, respectively, and the sedimentation coefficients were 2.2S and 4.3S. Component III was in an aggregated form which disintegrated into smaller components upon reduction with 2-mercaptoethanol. It was found that component II (4.3S component) deteriorated during storage of the egg with the concomitant formation of degraded components. The loss of this component was accompanied by a gradual decrease of the neutral sugar content of the vitelline membrane. On the basis of these data, the membrane structure and its deterioration during storage are discussed.     

The vitelline envelope of eggs from the giant keyhole limpet Megathura crenulata. II. Products formed by lysis with sperm enzymes and dithiothreitol.

The egg vitelline envelope of the marine invertebrate, Megathura crenulata, was lyzed either by sperm lysins A, B, C or by dithiothreitol. In each case the lysis mixture consisted of two major fractions, I and II, that could be separated by hydroxylapatite chromatography and had different electrophoretic mobilities on cellulose acetate strips. The amino acid, amino sugar, and neutral sugar compositions of fractions I and II were similar and resembled that of the intact vitelline envelope. Fractions I and II of each lysis mixture emerged in the exclusion volume of a Sepharose 6B column. A vitelline envelope fragment enzymatically formed by lysin was further degraded by dithiothreitol to form smaller fragments. A model of the vitelline envelope of the Megathura crenulata egg is suggested whereby the envelope is composed of polypeptide chains cross-linked by disulfide bonds and built to a large extent of closely spaced threonine residues. Most of the threonine residues are linked to carbohydrate units. Dithiothreitol dissolves the envelope by reducing disulfide bonds, whereas lysins most likely dissolve the envelope by degrading polypeptide chains.