The starfish (Patiria and Pisaster) oocyte: a model system for the study of hormone-surface interaction in oogenesis.

Studies were made to determine if the starfish (Patiria and Pisaster) oocyte could serve as a model system for investigations of hormone-surface interactions in eucaryotic cells. Treatment of starfisch oocytes with maturation inducing hormone, 1-methyladenine, was observed by scanning electron microscopy to induce surface alteration. The action of the hormone was dependent on the presence of the cation Ca++. Although caffeine, theophylline, and theobromine supposedly inhibit maturation of oocytes, studies using the starfish oocyte showed that theobromine does not inhibit maturation and the inhibition caused by caffeine and theophylline is reversible. Other studies using the starfish oocyte and tritiated 1-methyladenine showed that the hormone does not dissociate from the oocyte once bound, and that the oocyte surface may have multiple receptors for 1-methyladenine. From these studies it was concluded that the starfish oocyte is a useful model for studies of hormone-surface interactions in eucaryotic cells.