Wang Qiushi, He Ruijun, Zhang Qi, Shan Jin, Zhao Yanmei, Wang Xia
Key Laboratory of RNA Biology, CAS Center for Excellence in Biomacromolecules, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
Int J Mol Sci. 2022 Apr 6;23(7):4069. doi: 10.3390/ijms23074069.
Fertilization requires sperm migration toward oocytes and subsequent fusion. Sperm chemotaxis, a process in which motile sperm are attracted by factors released from oocytes or associated structures, plays a key role in sperm migration to oocytes. Here, we studied sperm chemotaxis in the nematode . Our data show that uterus-derived factor (UDF), the protein fraction of uterine extracts, can attract spermatozoa. UDF is heat resistant, but its activity is attenuated by certain proteinases. UDF binds to the surface of spermatozoa but not spermatids, and this process is mediated by membranous organelles that fuse with the plasma membrane. UDF induces spermatozoa to release ATP from intracellular storage sites to the extracellular milieu, and extracellular ATP modulates sperm chemotaxis. Moreover, UDF increases protein serine phosphorylation (pS) levels in sperm, which facilitates sperm chemotaxis. Taken together, we revealed that both extracellular ATP and intracellular pS signaling are involved in sperm chemotaxis. Our data provide insights into the mechanism of sperm chemotaxis in .
受精需要精子向卵母细胞迁移并随后融合。精子趋化性是一种活动精子被卵母细胞或相关结构释放的因子吸引的过程，在精子向卵母细胞的迁移中起关键作用。在这里，我们研究了线虫中的精子趋化性。我们的数据表明，子宫衍生因子（UDF），即子宫提取物的蛋白质部分，能够吸引精子。UDF耐热，但其活性会被某些蛋白酶减弱。UDF与精子表面结合，但不与精子细胞结合，这个过程由与质膜融合的膜细胞器介导。UDF诱导精子将细胞内储存部位的ATP释放到细胞外环境中，而细胞外ATP调节精子趋化性。此外，UDF增加精子中蛋白质丝氨酸磷酸化（pS）水平，这有助于精子趋化性。综上所述，我们揭示细胞外ATP和细胞内pS信号传导都参与了精子趋化性。我们的数据为线虫中精子趋化性的机制提供了见解。
