Molecular Human Reproduction Vol. 2, NUMBER 5 pp. 317-326, 1996
© European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology 1996
Regulators of sperm function: A role for diacylglycerol in human sperm acrosomal exocytosis
Christine M.B. O'Toole1,
Eduardo R.S. Roldan2,
Paul Hampton1 and
Lynn R. Fraser1,3
1Anatomy and Human Biology Group, King's College London Strand, London WC2R 2LS, UK
2Departemento de Reproducción Animal, Centro de Investigación y Tecnologia INIA, Ctra. de la Coruña Km 5.9, 28040 Madrid, Spain
To whom correspondence should be addressed at:
3To whom correspondence should be addressed
Using human spermatozoa stimulated with either progesterone or the Ca2+ ionophore A23187 to undergo acrosomal exocytosis, we have investigated potential pathways for generation of diacylglycerol (DAG) and have examined the possibility that DAG plays an important role in the exocytotic response. Both treatments resulted in rapid and considerable generation of DAG, followed by a limited rise in phosphatidic acid (PA). Further experiments indicated that phospholipase C (PLC) activity is important in this generation of DAG, but phospholipase D activity probably is not. In addition, polyphosphoinositide-specific phosphoinositidase C activation and hydrolysis of phosphatidylinositol 4, 5-bisphosphate appears to be a necessary prerequisite for activation of the PLC pathway. Finally the DAG formed appears to be important in acrosomal exocytosis: (i) blocking DAG metabolism with a DAG kinase inhibitor resulted in both increased endogenous levels of DAG and a significantly increased exocytotic response in stimulated cells and (ii) exogenous DAG induced exocytosis in capacitated spermatozoa whereas PA did not. Taken together, these results suggest that DAG plays a key role in events leading to membrance fusion during human sperm acrosomal exocytosis stimulated by natural agonists.
acrosome reaction/diacylglycerol/human spermatozoa/phospholipase C/phospholipase D
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