| Abstract: | An investigation was made as to the nature of two of the factors, termed S1, released within the first 30 minutes after contact is made between capacitated hamster sperm and the zona pellucida in vitro. Previous studies showed that these S1 factors were detected two and 20 to 25 minutes after the gametes were combined and that, based on filtration studies, the former possessed a molecular weight of less than 5,000 daltons. The present results show that the quantity of the 20–25-minute S1 factor released into the supernatant increased linearly as a function of the sperm concentration. This factor passed unimpeded through a filter with a 5,000 molecular weight cutoff but only 42% of the activity traversed a filter with a cutoff of 2,000 daltons. The two-minute S1 factor, in the virtual total absence of cells, was stable for 10 to 15 minutes, but lost significant activity upon longer incubation. Under the same conditions, the 20–25-minute factor lost approximately 25% of its activity within 15 minutes, but remained stable at this level for at least 45 minutes of incubation. Both S1 factors were not affected by a mixture of glycosidases, but were inactivated by subtilisin, trypsin, and leucine aminopeptidase which was contaminated with endopeptidases. The activity of the two-minute S1 factor appeared more susceptible to the action of the proteases than that of the 20–25-minute S1 factor. In contrast to previous results obtained with the two-minute S1 factor, the release of the 20–25-minute S1 factor was not inhibited by the inclusion of soybean trypsin inhibitor a t concentrations which are known to inhibit penetration of the zona by the sperm. The results suggest that the two- and 20–25-minute S1 factors are peptides which are not identical. |
