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The CatSper channel controls chemosensation in sea urchin sperm |
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| Authors: | Wolfgang Bönigk Luis Alvarez Christian Trötschel Ansgar Poetsch Astrid Müller Normann Goodwin Patric Pelzer Nachiket D Kashikar Elisabeth Kremmer Jan Jikeli Bernd Timmermann Heiner Kuhl Dmitry Fridman Florian Windler U Benjamin Kaupp Timo Strünker |
| Affiliation: | 1. Center of Advanced European Studies and Research (Caesar), Abteilung Molekulare Neurosensorik, Bonn, Germany;2. Ruhr‐Universit?t Bochum, Lehrstuhl Biochemie der Pflanzen, Bochum, Germany;3. Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA, USA;4. Laboratory of Molecular Signalling, Babraham Institute, Cambridge, UK;5. Institut für Anatomie und Zellbiologie, Abteilung für Funktionelle Neuroanatomie, Universit?t Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany;6. Sussex Neuroscience, School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton, UK;7. Helmholtz‐Zentrum München, Institut für Molekulare Immunologie, München, Germany;8. Max‐Planck‐Institut für Molekulare Genetik, Berlin, Germany |
| Abstract: | Sperm guidance is controlled by chemical and physical cues. In many species, Ca2+ bursts in the flagellum govern navigation to the egg. In Arbacia punctulata, a model system of sperm chemotaxis, a cGMP signaling pathway controls these Ca2+ bursts. The underlying Ca2+ channel and its mechanisms of activation are unknown. Here, we identify CatSper Ca2+ channels in the flagellum of A. punctulata sperm. We show that CatSper mediates the chemoattractant-evoked Ca2+ influx and controls chemotactic steering; a concomitant alkalization serves as a highly cooperative mechanism that enables CatSper to transduce periodic voltage changes into Ca2+ bursts. Our results reveal intriguing phylogenetic commonalities but also variations between marine invertebrates and mammals regarding the function and control of CatSper. The variations probably reflect functional and mechanistic adaptations that evolved during the transition from external to internal fertilization. |
| Keywords: | CatSper Ca2+ signaling chemotaxis sperm |