Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:4.6.1.2 (guanylate cyclase)
 8,497 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Two peptides, speract (Gly-Phe-Asp-Leu-Asn-Gly-Gly-Gly-Val-Gly) and resact (Cys-Val-Thr-Gly-Ala-Pro-Gly-Cys-Val-Gly-Gly-Gly-Arg-Leu-NH2), which activate sperm respiration and motility and elevate cyclic GMP concentrations in a species-specific manner, were tested for effects on guanylate cyclase activity. The guanylate cyclase of sea urchin spermatozoa is a glycoprotein and it is localized entirely on the plasma membrane. When intact sea urchin sperm cells were incubated with the appropriate peptide for time periods as short as 5 s and subsequently homogenized in detergent, guanylate cyclase activity was found to be as low as 10% of the activity of cells not treated with peptide. The peptides showed complete species specificity and analogues of one peptide (speract) caused decreases in enzyme activity coincident with their receptor binding properties. The peptides did not inhibit enzyme activity when added after detergent solubilization of the enzyme. When detergent-solubilized spermatozoa were incubated at 22 degrees C, guanylate cyclase activity declined in previously nontreated cells to the peptide-treated level. The rate of decline was dependent on temperature and protein concentration. When spermatozoa were first incubated with 32P, the decrease in guanylate cyclase activity was accompanied by a shift in the apparent molecular weight of a major plasma membrane protein (160,000-150,000) and a loss of 32P label from the 160,000 band. Other agents (Monensin A, NH4Cl) which were capable of stimulating sperm respiration and motility also caused decreases of guanylate cyclase activity when added to intact but not detergent-solubilized spermatozoa. The maximal decrease in guanylate cyclase activity occurred 5-10 min after addition of these agents. The enzyme response to Monensin A required extracellular Na+ suggestive that the ionophore caused the effect on guanylate cyclase activity by virtue of its ability to catalyze Na+/H+ exchange. These studies demonstrate that guanylate cyclase activity of sperm cells can be altered by the specific interaction of egg-associated peptides with their plasma membrane receptors.
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PMID:Receptor-mediated regulation of guanylate cyclase activity in spermatozoa. 286 Dec 1

Cycl AMP concentrations were elevated and acrosome reactions were induced in intact sea urchin spermatozoa by Nigericin, A23187, and pH 9.0 seawater. To determine whether or not the metabolism of cyclic AMP was being altered in sperm heads, the heads were mechanically separated from the flagella, and the flagella-less heads were then isolated by differential centrifugation. The isolated heads contained 1 to 2 nmol of ATP and 1 to 2 pmol of cyclic AMP/mg wet weight and retained these concentrations for several hours if stored at 0 degrees C. The flagella-less heads also retained the mitochondria of the midpiece area. The heads retained their functional status and could be stimulated to undergo acrosome reactions (filament extension) in response to Nigericin, A23187, or pH 9.0 seawater. Furthermore, the isolated heads could activate sea urchin eggs after induction of an acrosome reaction by Nigericin or pH 9.0 seawater. The isolated heads contained appreciable adenylate cyclase, cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase, cyclic GMP phosphodiesterase, guanylate cyclase, cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase, and calmodulin. Nigericin, pH 9.0 seawater, and A23187 caused not only the induction of an acrosome reaction but also elevations of cyclic AMP in the isolated heads, and extracellular Ca2+ was an absolute requirement for both responses. At 16 degrees C, Nigericin caused elevations of cyclic AMP within 5 s, but maximal elevations were not observed until 1 min; it induced a maximal percentage of acrosome reactions by 40 s. Incubation of cells at 0 degrees C resulted in a delay of maximal acrosome reactions until between 10 and 20 min after addition of Nigericin. Under these conditions, maximal elevations of cyclic AMP were observed by 5 min, demonstrating that cyclic AMP elevations precede the complete morphological change associated with an acrosome reaction. ATP concentrations within the sperm heads declined in response to Nigericin, pH 9.0 seawater, or A23187, and its decrease also required the presence of extracellular Ca2+. The decline in ATP concentrations was slightly more rapid in the presence of rotenone, suggestive of some ATP synthetic capabilities of the isolated head preparation. 45Ca2+ uptake was increased by Nigericin elevated pH, and A23187 but was not appreciably altered by monensin. Monensin also did not cause appreciable elevations of cyclic AMP concentrations, induction of an acrosome reaction, or decreases of ATP concentrations. Here, we describe for the first time that cyclic AMP concentrations can be increased in flagella-less heads of spermatozoa and show that these changes are associated with an acrosome reaction.
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PMID:The elevation of cyclic AMP concentrations in flagella-less sea urchin sperm heads. 625 63