Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:2.7.11.1 (protein kinase)
 81,284 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Capacitation is a priming event that renders mammalian spermatozoa responsive to signals originating from the cumulus-oocyte complex. The attainment of a capacitated state is dependent upon an increase in tyrosine phosphorylation and results in the acquisition of responsiveness to physiological agonists such as progesterone and ZP3. In this study we have shown that this capacitation-dependent increase in tyrosine phosphorylation is controlled by a unique redox-regulated, cAMP-mediated, signal transduction cascade. Either stimulation of reactive oxygen species generation or elevation of intracellular cAMP induced increases in phosphotyrosine expression by human spermatozoa and enhanced their responsiveness to progesterone. Ultimate convergence of the redox- and cAMP-regulated pathways was indicated by the ability of the protein kinase A inhibitor, H89, to block both modes of signal transduction. Furthermore, the fact that the redox-regulated pathway could be silenced by catalase, while this enzyme had no effect on the cAMP-mediated response, indicated that oxidant generation must lie upstream from cAMP in the reaction sequence. In keeping with this conclusion, a functional association was demonstrated between the redox status of human spermatozoa and their cAMP content. The continuous production of reactive oxygen species was also shown to be necessary for the protein kinase A-tyrosine phosphorylation axis to remain functional. If the generation of oxidising conditions during capacitation was prevented with 2-mercaptoethanol, 2-deoxyglucose or the flavoprotein inhibitor, diphenylene iodonium, then cAMP could no longer trigger tyrosine phosphorylation. These data support a model for human sperm capacitation as a redox-regulated process, involving a unique sequence of interactive events including reactive oxygen species production, elevation of intracellular cAMP, stimulation of protein kinase A and the induction of tyrosine phosphorylation. This is the first report of such a signal transduction cascade and may have implications for the functional significance of reactive oxygen metabolites in other cell types.
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PMID:A novel signal transduction cascade in capacitating human spermatozoa characterised by a redox-regulated, cAMP-mediated induction of tyrosine phosphorylation. 945 38

To investigate the involvement of protein kinases in signal transduction in the human zona pellucida (ZP)-induced acrosome reaction (AR), the effects of protein kinase (PK) activators, dibutyryl cAMP (PKA) and cGMP (PKG), phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA, PKC), and the PKC inhibitor, staurosporine were studied. Sperm samples were obtained from normozoospermic men with normal sperm-ZP binding. Oocytes were obtained from other patients with failure of fertilization in vitro. Motile spermatozoa selected by a swim-up technique were pre-incubated with 2.5-20 microM PMA, 1 mM dibutyryl cAMP or cGMP, 3 mM pentoxifylline or 0.125-2.0 microM staurosporine for 30 min and then incubated with four oocytes for 2 h in human tubal fluid supplemented with bovine serum albumin. The spermatozoa bound to the ZP were dislodged by repeatedly aspirating the oocytes with a small bore pipette and the state of the AR was determined by fluorescein-labelled Pisum sativum agglutinin. Motility and movement characteristics were assessed by computer-assisted sperm analysis (CASA) after incubation of spermatozoa with PMA for 30 min and 2 h. The dibutyryl cAMP and cGMP analogues had a small positive effect (P < 0.05) but pentoxifylline had no effect on stimulating the ZP-induced AR (P > 0.05). In contrast, PMA stimulated ZP-induced AR in a marked dose-dependent manner. Only the highest concentrations (15-20 microM) of PMA significantly decreased percentage motility (P < 0.001). Doses of 2.5-15 microM of PMA significantly stimulated ZP-induced AR without decreasing motility (P < 0.001). The PKC inhibitor, staurosporine (0.125-0.25 microM) significantly inhibited ZP-induced AR without affecting motility (P < 0.001). Sperm samples from 33 normozoospermic men were used for studies of the ZP-induced AR augmented with 15 microM PMA. One sample did not show a response to PMA stimulation. Among the 14 men with low ZP-induced AR, half had normal responses to PMA and other half had low responses to PMA. In conclusion, activation or inhibition of PKC significantly increases or decreases human ZP-induced AR suggesting that PKC plays a important role in the signal transduction pathway for the physiological AR.
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PMID:Protein kinase C plays an important role in the human zona pellucida-induced acrosome reaction. 946 48

Protein kinase C (PKC) and protein kinase A (PKA) are present in human spermatozoa and probably involved in the cascade systems leading to acrosomal exocytosis. We have investigated the possibility that these two protein kinases are involved in the regulation of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) uptake in human spermatozoa. Swim-up preparations of human spermatozoa were exposed to phorbol 12-myristate 13 acetate (PMA) and 1-oleoyl-2-acetyl-sn-glycerol (OAG), which are activators of PKC, and to dibutyryl cyclic AMP (dbcAMP), a PKA activator, and subsequently incubated with radiolabelled GABA. Accumulated intracellular GABA was measured in a scintillation counter. Both PMA and OAG caused inhibition of GABA uptake while dbcAMP was without effect. The inhibitory effect on GABA uptake observed following exposure to the PKC activators could, however, not be counteracted by preincubation of the sperm samples with the PKC inhibitors staurosporine or H-7. The inhibitory effect on GABA uptake following addition of PMA was enhanced by prolonged exposure to the reagent and by increased capacitation prior to addition of the reagent. A small numerical increase in the percentage of acrosome-reacted cells was observed following exposure of the sperm cells to the highest concentrations of PMA, OAG and dbcAMP. No sperm motility parameters were affected by the treatment protocols as measured using computer-assisted semen analysis (CASA).
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PMID:Phorbol esters and synthetic diacylglycerols inhibit gamma-aminobutyric acid uptake in human spermatozoa: an effect mediated by protein kinase C? 962 Aug 33

Recent advances in characterizing sperm surface receptors and ion channels, when combined with the rapidly expanding knowledge of interactions among second messenger systems in somatic cells, permit formulation of a tentative molecular mechanism for the regulation of the human sperm acrosome reaction. As spermatozoa pass through the cumulus mass, progesterone binds to its sperm surface receptor, alkalinizes the sperm head cytosol and potentiates changes in intracellular ionized calcium. Primary binding of spermatozoa to egg involves receptors for mannosyl, N-acetylglucosaminyl and, possibly, fucosyl residues of the glycosylated zona protein, ZP3. These receptors aggregate on multivalent ligand binding, migrate to the equatorial region along an actin filament network formed between the plasma and acrosomal membranes during capacitation, and activate a G protein/protein kinase A/protein kinase C second messenger system and a secondary proteolysis signal. Binding of a receptor tyrosine kinase to ZP3 amino acid residues simultaneous with the sugar recognition event triggers tyrosine phosphorylation signalling. All signals combine to open a voltage-dependent calcium channel. The resulting elevated calcium signal depolymerizes the inter-membrane actin network and activates phospholipases, leading to an acrosome reaction.
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PMID:Modelling human sperm-egg interactions in vitro: signal transduction pathways regulating the acrosome reaction. 966 32

Various endocrine and neuronal functions are governed by the cAMP-dependent signaling pathway. In eukaryotes, transcriptional regulation upon stimulation of the adenylyl cyclase signaling pathway is mediated by a family of cAMP-responsive nuclear factors. This family consists of a large number of members which may act as activators or repressors. These factors contain the basic domain/leucine zipper motifs and bind as dimers to cAMP-response elements (CRE). The function of CRE-binding proteins (CREBs) is modulated by phosphorylation by several kinases. Direct activation of gene expression by CREBs requires phosphorylation by the cAMP-dependent protein kinase A to the serine-133 residue. The gene CREM encodes various transcription factors which play key physiological and developmental roles within the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis. We have previously shown that the transcriptional activator CREMtau is highly expressed in postmeiotic cells. Spermiogenesis is a complex process by which postmeiotic male germ cells differentiate into mature spermatozoa. This process involves remarkable structural and biochemical changes which are under the hormonal control of the hypothalamic-pituitary axis. We have addressed the specific role of CREM in spermiogenesis using CREM-mutant mice generated by homologous recombination. Analysis of the seminiferous epithelium from mutant male mice reveals that spermatogenesis stops at the first step of spermiogenesis. Late spermatids are completely absent while there is a significant increase in apoptotic germ cells. A series of postmeiotic germ cell-specific genes are not expressed. Mutant male mice completely lack spermatozoa. This phenotype is reminiscent of cases of human infertility.
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PMID:Regulating the balance between differentiation and apoptosis: role of CREM in the male germ cells. 984 51

Protein tyrosine phosphorylation is associated with sperm capacitation and the acrosome reaction in several mammalian species. Changes in phosphorylation of a 95-kDa protein in human, mouse, and domestic cat spermatozoa are known to be influenced by capacitation and exposure to zona pellucida (ZP) proteins. We previously reported diminished phosphorylation of 95- and 160-kDa proteins in spermatozoa from teratospermic cats, compared with normospermic domestic cats. To determine if these proteins and mechanisms are present in other species in the phenotypically diverse Felidae family, we examined the relationship between tyrosine-phosphorylated sperm proteins and sperm morphology in the leopard cat (approximately 65% normal sperm/ejaculate), tiger (approximately 65%), clouded leopard (approximately 15%), and cheetah (approximately 30%). Furthermore, we investigated the involvement of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) in the regulation of sperm protein tyrosine phosphorylation. Specifically, we assessed the following: 1) presence of tyrosine-phosphorylated proteins in sperm extracts; 2) changes in protein tyrosine phosphorylation after sperm capacitation and swim-up separation; 3) impact of tyrosine kinase inhibition on leopard cat sperm protein phosphorylation and ZP penetration; and 4) involvement of a cAMP-dependent pathway in the regulation of protein tyrosine phosphorylation. Immunoblotting analysis with anti-phosphotyrosine antibody (PY20) indicated that a 95-kDa protein was present in all four species. Additional phosphorylated proteins were detected in the leopard cat (145- and 175-kDa proteins), tiger (185-kDa protein), clouded leopard (160- and 190-kDa proteins), and cheetah (115- and 155-kDa proteins). Sperm capacitation in vitro increased phosphorylation of one or more proteins in the leopard cat, tiger and clouded leopard, but not in the cheetah. Although swim-up separation increased the proportion of morphologically normal spermatozoa in the clouded leopard and cheetah, no changes were observed in phosphorylation of the 95-kDa sperm protein. Thus, phosphorylation of the 95-kDa protein appeared to be related to the condition of teratospermia. Exposing leopard cat spermatozoa to the tyrosine kinase inhibitor, tyrphostin, reduced (P < 0.05) phosphorylation of the 95- and 145-kDa proteins, as well as ZP penetration, without affecting sperm motility. Similarly, when spermatozoa were incubated in the presence of cAMP analogs or active and inactive stereoisomers of cAMP, phosphorylation of sperm proteins was either stimulated or inhibited. Together, these data suggest that protein tyrosine kinase mechanisms appear conserved within the family Felidae and are regulated by a cAMP/protein kinase A pathway.
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PMID:Regulation of sperm function by protein tyrosine phosphorylation in diverse wild felid species. 987 19

Human and monkey ejaculated sperm contain protein phosphatase-1 (PP1), PP1 inhibitor 2 (12), and glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3). Inhibition of ejaculated human sperm protein phosphatase (PP) activity with calyculin-a (CL-A) significantly stimulates motility, implicating protein dephosphorylation in motility regulation. The present experiments were conducted to characterize and compare PP and GSK-3 activity in monkey caput and caudal epididymal sperm, to determine the cellular distribution of these enzymes, and to test the thesis that epididymal sperm PP activity is inversely related to motility. Caput epididymal sperm populations, (8.8% motile) contained levels of PP activity that were >3 times as high as those of caudal spermatozoa. This PP activity was further identified by inhibitor response profiles as PP1. In both caput and caudal sperm, the majority of this PP1 activity was localized in 100,000 x g soluble fractions. Western blot analysis indicated that a portion of this difference was the result of elevated amounts of PP1 in caput compared with caudal epididymal sperm. The presence of GSK-3 activity was undetectable in 100,000 x g insoluble fractions of epididymal sperm, whereas both caput and caudal sperm soluble fractions contained GSK-3 activity, which was approximately threefold higher in caput sperm compared with caudal populations. Treatment of caput epididymal sperm from the rhesus macaque with the PP inhibitor CL-A resulted in a significant, dose-dependent increase from 8 to 38% motile cells (without any effect on their path velocity). In contrast, CL-A had no significant influence on either percent motility or path velocity of caudal epididymal sperm. Cytosolic PP1 and GSK-3 activities appear to be inversely related to the motility of monkey epididymal sperm and may have a regulatory role in the development of the potential for motility in epididymal sperm.
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PMID:Motility potential of macaque epididymal sperm: the role of protein phosphatase and glycogen synthase kinase-3 activities. 1010 Apr 73

Inactivation of germ-cell-specific molecules essential for the production of functional spermatozoa could lead to attractive new means for male contraception. The mouse protein MSY2 is the mammalian homologue of a class of Xenopus DNA/RNA-binding proteins needed for the transcription of testis-specific genes and for translational repression (masking) of paternal mRNAs. In this report, we describe the human homologue for MSY2, Contrin. Sequence analysis of Contrin cDNAs predicts a protein highly similar to its mouse and Xenopus germ-cell Y-box protein homologues with a cold shock domain and four basic/aromatic islands. Contrin is highly basic and is rich in the amino acids arginine and proline. It contains seven putative casein kinase 2 phosphorylation sites and three putative protein kinase C phosphorylation sites, suggesting that Contrin could be highly phosphorylated in vivo. The predicted protein sequence contains two nuclear localization signals, consistent with its predicted role of shuttling between nucleus and cytoplasm. Contrin maps to human chromosome 17p11.2-13.1. By the criteria of northern and western blotting, Contrin appears to be testis specific and distinct from other mammalian Y-box-binding proteins. We predict that inactivation of Contrin function in mammalian germ cells would prevent the formation of functional male gametes.
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PMID:Contrin, the human homologue of a germ-cell Y-box-binding protein: cloning, expression, and chromosomal localization. 1010 Apr 84

DNA-PK is a nuclear, serine/threonine protein kinase required for repairing DNA double-strand breaks and for V(D)J recombination. To determine the distribution of DNA-PK in human tissues, we assayed paraffin-embedded sections of normal and cancerous tissues for DNA-PKcs and Ku80 by immunohistochemistry. We also assayed for Brca2, a human tumor suppressor gene that is implicated in the repair of DNA strand-breaks. Brca2 was strongly expressed in epithelial cells of the breast, endometrium, and thymus, in tingible body macrophages of follicular germinal centers of lymphoid tissue, and in reticuloendothelial cells in the spleen. DNA-PKcs and Ku80 expression was usually parallel, but both were expressed in a highly cell- and tissue-specific manner. The highest levels were observed in spermatogenic cells (but not in spermatozoa), and in neurons and glial cells of the central and autonomic nervous system. Neither protein was consistently expressed in liver nor in resting mammary epithelium, but lactating breast epithelium was strongly positive for DNA-PKcs and Ku80. In contrast to established human cell cultures, expression between cells in the same tissue was highly selective in the epidermis, exocrine pancreas, renal glomeruli, the red pulp of the spleen, and within cellular compartments of tonsils, lymph nodes, and thymus. Most cancerous tissues were consistently positive for DNA-PKcs and Ku80, except invasive carcinoma of the breast. DNA-PKcs, Ku80, and Ku70 mRNAs were expressed in all normal tissues with relatively little variation in levels. Our results suggest that the apparent absence of DNA-PKcs and Ku80 from some cells or tissues is a consequence of post-transcriptional mechanisms that regulate protein levels.
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PMID:DNA-PK, the DNA-activated protein kinase, is differentially expressed in normal and malignant human tissues. 1034 Mar 83

Highly purified plasma membranes, isolated by an aqueous two-phase polymer method from goat epididymal spermatozoa, were found to possess a kinase activity that causes phosphorylation of serine and threonine residues of several endogenous plasma membrane proteins. Cyclic AMP, cyclic GMP, Ca(2+)-calmodulin, phosphatidylserine-diolein, polyamines and heparin had no appreciable effect on this kinase. Autoradiographic analysis showed that the profile of the phosphorylation of membrane proteins by this endogenous cAMP-independent protein kinase underwent marked modulation during the transit of spermatozoa through the epididymis. In caput sperm plasma membrane, 18, 21, 43, 52, 74 and 90 kDa proteins were phosphorylated, whereas, in the corpus and cauda epididymal spermatozoa, a differential phosphorylation pattern was observed with respect to the 90, 74, 21 and 18 kDa proteins. The rate of phosphorylation of the 74 kDa protein decreased markedly during the early phase of sperm maturation (caput to distal corpus epididymides) whereas there was little change in kinase activity in sperm plasma membrane. In contrast, the rates of phosphorylation of the 18 and 21 kDa proteins increased during the terminal phase (distal corpus to distal cauda epididymides) of sperm maturity, although the kinase activity of membrane decreased significantly during this phase. The modulation of the phosphorylated states of these specific membrane proteins may play an important role in the maturation of epididymal spermatozoa.
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PMID:Maturation-dependent modification of the protein phosphorylation profile of isolated goat sperm plasma membrane. 1034 20


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