The fucose sulfate polymer of egg jelly binds to sperm REJ and is the inducer of the sea urchin sperm acrosome reaction.

The sea urchin sperm cell is an advantageous model for studying ligand-mediated exocytosis. Sperm can be obtained in vast quantities and induced to undergo exocytosis of the acrosomal vesicle with great synchrony. During sea urchin fertilization, egg jelly (EJ) triggers the sperm acrosome reaction (AR) which is required for sperm binding and fusion with the egg. Uncertainty exists as to the exact biochemical nature of the AR inducer. The following study was performed in an attempt to clarify the nature of the inducer. EJ from individual females (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus) was analyzed on SDS-PAGE gels. Each female had a unique composition of EJ macromolecules, but all females possessed the previously described fucose sulfate polymer (FSP). Two electrophoretic isotypes of FSP were discovered; 87% of females had only one isotype and 13% had both. Both FSP isotypes bound to the REJ protein (receptor for egg jelly) purified from sperm. The two FSP isotypes had almost equal potency in inducing the AR. EJ was fractionated by DEAE chromatography in 6 M urea/4% beta-mercaptoethanol. All AR-inducing activity coeluted with FSP. FSP, purified by trypsin digestion followed by dialysis, was twice as active as the non-trypsin-digested control at inducing the AR. EJ was digested with proteinase K, boiled in detergent and beta-mercaptoethanol, and subjected to sucrose density gradient sedimentation. The FSP and AR activity had superimposable sedimentation patterns. Purified FSP had no associated peptide component. Sperm from individual males differed in the concentration dependency of purified FSP to induce the AR. The data indicate that the 138/82 kDa EJ glycoproteins, previously thought to act as AR inducers, do not appear to be involved in triggering the AR. The data are consistent with the hypothesis that FSP is the only inducer of the AR of this sea urchin species.