The egg-jelly macromolecule, a fucose sulphate glycoconjugate, originates from the accessory cells of the ovary in the sea urchin Hemicentrotus pulcherrimus.

The immunocytochemical localization of the egg-jelly macromolecule, a fucose sulphate glycoconjugate (FSG) that induces the acrosome reaction in spermatozoa, was investigated in ovaries of the sea urchin Hemicentrotus pulcherrimus by use of a polyclonal antibody. The polyclonal antibody reacted with the accessory cells and oocytes in the ovarian lumen. In the accessory cells, evidence of an intense immunohistochemical reaction was observed in many globules of variable density. Products of the specific immunohistochemical reaction were frequently observed in the surface region of oocytes, at a distance from the ovarian wall. At the ultrastructural level, the polyclonal antibody was found to react with the material present in the vacuole-like structures of the globules in the accessory cells. Many gold particles, demonstrating specific immunolabelling, were associated with well-developed microvilli on the vitellogenic oocytes. In the mature oocytes, intense labelling was observed in the jelly coat but not in the vitelline coat. By contrast, oogonia and early oocytes were barely labelled. Quantitative data indicated that the extent of immunolabellings in the surface region of oocytes was very high in the vitellogenic and mature oocytes. In all cases, neither the oocyte cytoplasm nor the subcellular organelles were labelled. These results suggest that FSG is produced by the accessory cells and is deposited initially on the surface of vitellogenic oocytes for the formation of jelly. These findings may provide a new insight into the role of the accessory cells in the reproductive process of the sea urchin.