Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UNIPROT:P56851 (epididymal)
 11,273 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Spermatozoa acquire fertilizing ability during passage through the epididymis. Modification of oligosaccharide moieties on sperm surface glycoproteins are some of the biochemical changes believed to be important in the production of functionally mature spermatozoa during passage through the epididymis. In an attempt to understand the mechanism underlying these modifications, we quantified four glycosyltransferase activities (the enzymes that catalyze the transfer of sugar residues from nucleotide sugar donor to the sugar chains on glycoproteins and glycolipids) of spermatozoa and fluid from various regions of the epididymis. Our results are as follows. (1) Only 10-20% of the total glycosyltransferase activities (sialyltransferase, fucosyltransferase, galactosyltransferase, and N-acetyl glucosaminyltransferase) sedimented with the spermatozoa; the remaining 80-90% of the four enzymes were present in soluble form in the epididymal fluid. (2) When the four transferase activities were expressed per 10(6) spermatozoa, only sialyltransferase and fucosyltransferase activities showed maturation-dependent changes. The former enzyme was significantly higher on the proximal caput spermatozoa and the latter on the distal caput spermatozoa. The higher levels of the two enzymes on caput spermatozoa could be due to their binding to the endogenous sugar acceptor molecules on the sperm surface, and subsequent release following sequential sialylation and fucosylation of the molecules in the proximal and distal caput spermatozoa, respectively. (3) When spermatozoa from the proximal and distal caput, corpus, and proximal and distal cauda were incubated with fucose-labeled nucleotide sugar (GDP[14C]fucose), higher levels of radioactivity were routinely incorporated into the spermatozoa from the distal caput. (4) The [14C]fucose-labeled spermatozoa or sperm plasma membranes, when solubilized, resolved on SDS-PAGE, and visualized by autoradiography, showed that the radioactivity had been incorporated into an endogenous acceptor of 86 kDa (major component) and several minor components. Treatment of the solubilized spermatozoa with N-glycanase suggested that the [14C]fucose is mainly present on N-linked oligosaccharide units. These studies demonstrate that some of the sperm surface components are fucosylated during sperm maturation. The potential significance of the in vitro fucosylation of sperm surface components in the production of functionally mature spermatozoa is discussed.
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PMID:Glycosylation of rat sperm plasma membrane during epididymal maturation. 843 31

Mammalian spermatozoa participate in specific cell adhesion phenomena during their development and functional lifespan; this includes interaction with Sertoli cells, the zona pellucida, and the oolemma. In some species such as the guinea pig, an additional sperm-sperm adhesion occurs during epididymal maturation which results in the formation of rouleaux in which the sperm heads are stacked one upon the other and the periacrosomal plasma membranes of adjacent sperm are linked by periodic cross-bridges. In this study, we have used a monoclonal antibody to investigate the role of the WH-30 protein on the sperm surface in the formation of the junctional zones between adjacent guinea pig sperm in rouleaux. WH-30 monoclonal antibodies caused a dose- and time-dependent dissociation of rouleaux and an increase in the percentage of single, acrosome-intact sperm; there were no effects on sperm motility (maintained at 80-90%) or ultrastructure during the 120-min incubations. The maximal effect of about 80% single sperm was obtained with a 1:4 dilution of the WH-30 hybridoma supernatant or 5-50 micrograms/ml of purified WH-30 IgG. In contrast, incubation of sperm in AH-20 IgG, myeloma cell supernatants, or purified, nonspecific mouse IgG1 had no effect on rouleaux. Treatment of sperm with a WH-30 Fab fragment resulted in almost complete dissociation of rouleaux without any observed effect on sperm motility or acrosomal status. Surface labeling of sperm followed by immunoprecipitation and SDS-PAGE revealed that the WH-30 antibody recognizes a single polypeptide of 43-45 kDa. Using immunofluorescence, the WH-30 protein was localized over the entire surface of the sperm head (whole-head pattern), and immunogold labeling showed that WH-30 is localized in the glycocalyx on both the dorsal and ventral surfaces of the periacrosomal and postacrosomal plasma membranes. These results indicate that the WH-30 protein on the sperm surface is a cell adhesion protein which is involved in the molecular interactions that maintain guinea pig sperm in rouleaux.
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PMID:A role for the WH-30 protein in sperm-sperm adhesion during rouleaux formation in the guinea pig. 844 69

We have previously reported the occurrence and partial characterization of a novel alpha-D-mannosidase activity on rat sperm plasma membranes [Tulsiani, Skudlarek and Orgebin-Crist (1989) J. Cell Biol. 109, 1257-1267]. Here, we report the presence of a similar alpha-D-mannosidase activity in a soluble form in rat epididymal fluid. The soluble enzyme was purified nearly 500-fold with 9-12% recovery to a state approaching homogeneity using: (1) (NH4)2SO4 precipitation; (2) affinity chromatography on immobilized mannan and D-mannosamine; (3) ion-exchange (DE-52) column chromatography; (4) molecular-sieve chromatography. The enzyme was eluted from the final column (Sephacryl S-400) at an apparent molecular mass of 460 kDa. When resolved by SDS/PAGE (under denaturing conditions), the enzyme showed a major protein band (115 kDa) and few very minor bands. The polyclonal antibody raised against the major protein band was found to cross-react with the alpha-D-mannosidase activity present in epididymal fluid (soluble) and detergent-solubilized spermatozoa from the rat and mouse. This result suggested that the soluble and membrane-bound enzyme activities shared a common antigenic site(s). The antibody was used to characterize further the alpha-D-mannosidase activity(ies) present in the rat epididymal fluid and rat sperm plasma membranes. Data from these studies show that the two forms are similar in (a) subunit molecular mass, (b) substrate specificity and (c) inhibitory effect of several sugars. These similarities suggest that the soluble and membrane-bound alpha-D-mannosidase activities are isoforms. Immunoprecipitation studies after solubilization of the testis and epididymal particulate fraction from sexually immature rats show that the testis (but not the epididymis) contains the immunoreactive alpha-D-mannosidase activity. This result and the fact that spermatozoa from the rat rete testis show alpha-D-mannosidase activity indicate that the sperm enzyme is synthesized in the testis during spermatogenesis.
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PMID:Purification and characterization of rat epididymal-fluid alpha-D-mannosidase: similarities to sperm plasma-membrane alpha-D-mannosidase. 845 31

Plasma membrane proteins were extracted either from epididymal spermatozoa after incubation with ventral prostate gland secretion or from spermatozoa recovered from uteri of females mated with surgically treated males belonging to the following groups: TX (excision of all accessory sex glands, ASG), VPX (bilateral excision of ventral prostate), VP (bilateral excision of all ASG except the ventral prostate), and SH (sham-operated). Incubation of spermatozoa with ventral prostatic secretion resulted in an 11-fold increase in glycoprotein content of the plasma membrane, but total protein concentration remained unchanged. The in vivo study indicated that interactions of ASG secretions and spermatozoa were complicated by the presence of uterine secretions. Glycoprotein content was reduced in the presence of ventral prostatic secretions. SDS-PAGE profiles showed that both uterine and ASG secretions could modify proteins on the sperm surface. Enrichment of a 25-kD subunit was apparently effected by uterine secretions and further promoted by combined secretions of the ampullary gland, coagulating gland, dorsolateral prostate, and seminal vesicle, but was reduced by the ventral prostate. A number of other protein subunits appeared to be specifically modified by the ventral prostate, while other ASG secretions were also shown to alter the effects of the ventral prostate on the sperm surface.
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PMID:Electrophoretic modification of sperm plasma membrane by ventral prostate secretion in golden hamsters. 855 26

We found an intra-acrosomal antigen of about 155,000 daltons (155 kDa) in a survey using the monoclonal antibody MC101 raised against mouse cauda epididymal spermatozoa. Morphological studies by means of indirect immunofluorescence and immunogold electron microscopy localized the antigen to the cortex region of the anterior acrosome. Avidin biotin complex immunocytochemistry initially demonstrated a faint signal at the anterior acrosome in the testis spermatozoa that increased in intensity as the sperm moved toward the distal epididymis. This incremental immunoreactivity was also confirmed by immunoblotting following one-dimensional SDS-PAGE. The 155 kDa protein band was immunostained, and it was much more intense in the cauda epididymal than in the caput and corpus epididymal spermatozoa. Only a trace or no immunostain was evident in the caput or testis spermatozoa. The antigen localization did not change during passage through the epididymis, being confined at the cortex region of the anterior acrosome. The epididymal epithelial cells were not immunostained. These findings suggested that the 155 kDa protein is biochemically modified, further implying that the biochemical alteration of intra-acrosomal material is involved in sperm maturation in the epididymis.
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PMID:Intra-acrosomal 155,000 dalton protein increases the antigenicity during mouse sperm maturation in the epididymis: a study using a monoclonal antibody MC101. 856 54

We set out to determine if the cDNA encoding a carnitine palmitoyltransferase (CPT)-like protein recently isolated from rat brown adipose tissue (BAT) by Yamazaki et al. (Yamazaki, N., Shinohara, Y., Shima, A., and Terada, H. (1995) FEBS Lett. 363, 41-45) actually encodes the muscle isoform of mitochondrial CPT I (M-CPT I). To this end, a cDNA essentially identical to the original BAT clone was isolated from a rat heart library. When expressed in COS cells, the novel cDNA and our previously described cDNA for rat liver CPT I (L-CPT I) gave rise to products with the same kinetic characteristics (sensitivity to malonyl-CoA and Km for carnitine) as CPT I in skeletal muscle and liver mitochondria, respectively. When labeled with [3H]etomoxir, recombinant L-CPT I and putative M-CPT I, although having approximately the same predicated masses (88.2 kDa), migrated differently on SDS gels, as did CPT I from liver and muscle mitochondria. The same was true for the products of in vitro transcription and translation of the L-CPT I and putative M-CPT I cDNAs. We conclude that the BAT cDNA does in fact encode M-CPT I. Northern blots using L- and M-CPT I cDNA probes revealed the presence of L-CPT I mRNA in liver and heart and its absence from skeletal muscle and BAT. M-CPT I mRNA, which was absent from liver, was readily detected in skeletal muscle and was particularly strong in heart and BAT. Whereas the signal for L-CPT I was more abundant than that for M-CPT I in RNA isolated from whole epididymal fat pad, this was reversed in purified adipocytes from this source. These findings, coupled with the kinetic properties and migration profiles on SDS gels of CPT I in brown and white adipocytes, indicate that the muscle form of the enzyme is the dominant, if not exclusive, species in both cell types.
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PMID:Expression of a cDNA isolated from rat brown adipose tissue and heart identifies the product as the muscle isoform of carnitine palmitoyltransferase I (M-CPT I). M-CPT I is the predominant CPT I isoform expressed in both white (epididymal) and brown adipocytes. 863 26

Preparative free-flow electrophoresis and aqueous two-phase polymer partition were used to obtain a plasma membrane-enriched fraction of adipocytes isolated from epididymal fat pads of the rat together with a fraction enriched in small vesicles with plasma membrane characteristics (thick membranes, clear dark-light-dark pattern). The electrophoretic mobility of the small vesicles was much less than that of the plasma membrane consistent with an inside-out orientation whereby charged molecules normally directed to the cell surface were on the inside. When plasma membranes and the small vesicle fraction were isolated from fat cells treated or not treated with 100 microU/ml insulin and the resident proteins of the two fractions analyzed by SDS-PAGE, the two fractions exhibited characteristic responses involving specific protein bands. Insulin treatment for 2 min resulted in the loss of a 90 kDa band from the plasma membrane. At the same time, a ca. 55-kDa peptide band that was enhanced in the plasma membrane was lost from the small vesicle fraction. The latter corresponded on Western blots to the GLUT-4 glucose transporter. Thus, we suggest that the small vesicle fraction with characteristics of inside-out plasma membrane vesicles may represent the internal vesicular pool of plasma membrane subject to modulation by treatment of adipocytes with insulin.
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PMID:Isolation by preparative free-flow electrophoresis and aqueous two-phase partition from rat adipocytes of an insulin-responsive small vesicle fraction with glucose transport activity. 879 99

1. Immunocytochemical and biochemical techniques have been used to localize and characterize a novel plasma membrane-associated, neutral-pH-optimum alpha-L-fucosidase from rat spermatozoa. Light and electron microscopy specifically localized the fucosidase on the plasma membrane of the convex region of the principal segment of testicular and cauda epididymal sperm heads. Immunoreactivity for alpha-L-fucosidase was also detected in the Golgi apparatus of spermatocytes and spermatids but no immunoreactivity was observed in the acrosome. 2. Fractionation of epididymal sperm homogenates indicated that over 90% of the alpha-L-fucosidase activity was associated with the 48,000 g pellet. This pellet-associated activity could be solubilized with 0.5 M NaCl but not with 0.5% Triton X-100, suggesting that fucosidase is peripherally associated with membranes. Sucrose-density-gradient centrifugation of sperm homogenates indicated that fucosidase was enriched in the plasma membrane-enriched fraction. Analysis of alpha-L-fucosidase on intact epididymal sperm indicated that the enzyme was active, displayed linear kinetics and had a pH-activity curve (with an optimum near 7) which was comparable to that of fucosidase from epididymal sperm extracts. These results further suggest that fucosidase is associated with plasma membranes, and that its active site is accessible to fucoconjugates. Evidence that most of the fucosidase is associated with the exterior of the plasma membrane came from studies in which intact sperm had fucosidase activity comparable to that of sperm sonicates, and from studies in which approx. 90% of the fucosidase activity on intact sperm could be released from the sperm by gentle shaking with 0.5 M NaCl. Isoelectric focusing indicated that the NaCl-solubilized epididymal sperm fucosidase appears to have one major and one minor isoform with pIs near 7.2 and 5.2, respectively. SDS/PAGE and Western blotting indicated that the NaCl-solubilized extract of epididymal sperm contains two protein bands of 54 and 50 kDa which were highly immunoreactive with the IgG fraction of anti-fucosidase antibodies. Although the function of the novel sperm fucosidase is not known, its specific localization to the plasma membrane of the region of the rat sperm head involved in sperm-egg binding and its high enzymic activity at neutral pH on intact sperm suggest that this enzyme may have a role in sperm-egg interactions.
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PMID:Immunocytochemical localization and biochemical characterization of a novel plasma membrane-associated, neutral pH optimum alpha-L-fucosidase from rat testis and epididymal spermatozoa. 883 25

We have purified a 57 kDa protein (designated Sak57, for spermatogenic cell/sperm-associated keratin) from sodium dodecyl sulfate-beta-mercaptoethanol (SDS-beta ME)-dissociated outer dense fibers isolated from rat sperm tails. Internal protein sequence analysis of Sak57 yielded two 15-mer and 10-mer fragments with 70-100% homology to human, rat, and mouse keratins and corresponding to the 1A and 2A regions of the alpha-helical rod domain of keratins. A multiple antigenic peptide (MAP) was constructed using the 10-mer amino acid sequence KAQYEDIAQK (corresponding to the 2A region) and used as antigen for the production of polyclonal antibodies in rabbit. Anti-MAP sera were used for further analysis of the biochemical characteristics of Sak57 in testis and sperm tails using chromatofocusing, immunoblotting, and [32P] orthophosphate-labeling. We have found that rat testis displays two immunoreactive proteins: a soluble 83 kDa protein with pl range 5.9-6.3, regarded as a precursor, and both detergent-insoluble and soluble 57 kDa protein with pl range 5.0-5.9, corresponding to the mature form Sak57. The testicular soluble form was phosphorylated. Rat sperm tail samples displayed only the Sak57 detergent-insoluble form and its pl was more acidic (4.7-4.8). Whole-mount electron microscopy of negatively stained preparations of sperm-derived Sak57 resuspended in SDS-beta ME revealed a rod-shaped pattern. A decrease in the concentration of SDS-beta ME resulted in the side-by-side aggregation of rod-shaped Sak57 forming thick bundles. Indirect immunofluorescence was used to determine the localization of Sak57 in isolated outer dense fibers, epididymal sperm, spermatids, and pachytene spermatocytes. Confocal laser scanning microscopy was used to analyze the three-dimensional arrangement of Sak57 in pachytene spermatocytes. Isolated outer dense fiber and sperm tails displayed an immunoreactive product in the form of linear clusters. In elongating spermatids (steps 10-11), Sak57 immunoreactivity was predominant in the head region whereas pachytene spermatocytes displayed a cortical cytoplasmic distribution. Results of this study demonstrate that Sak57 has the characteristics of a keratin intermediate filament and is present during meiotic and postmeiotic stages of spermatogenesis.
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PMID:Purification, partial characterization, and localization of Sak57, an acidic intermediate filament keratin present in rat spermatocytes, spermatids, and sperm. 885 8

The purpose of the present study was to demonstrate the post-translational modifications of sperm plasma membrane proteins by fatty acid acylation during sperm maturation in the epididymis. Rat epididymal spermatozoa were incubated at 37 degrees C with various concentrations (100 microCi and 1 mCi) of [9-10(n)3H]palmitic acid in a medium containing Tyrode's solution supplemented with sodium bicarbonate, sodium pyruvate and sodium lactate. The incorporation of [3H]palmitate in vitro was determined in epididymal spermatozoa and an attempt was made to identify the lipid-linked proteins of purified plasma membranes of maturing epididymal spermatozoa by autoradiography. The studies demonstrated that [3H]palmitate was covalently linked to a subset of membrane cytoskeleton proteins of maturing rat spermatozoa. The pattern of incorporation of lipid was a maturation-associated phenomenon as caput spermatozoa incorporated more radioactivity than did caudal spermatozoa. The labelled proteins appeared to be membrane-bound since 82% of radioactivity was associated with membrane fractions. Autoradiograms of SDS-PAGE gels of labelled caput sperm extract showed three prominent palmitate-incorporating protein bands of about 70, 56 and 36 kDa and few minor bands. Most of these proteins were present in the membrane fraction of caput spermatozoa. Labelled gels of both the sperm extracts and of purified membranes showed resistance to hydroxylamine treatment, suggesting that there are amide bonds between lipid and proteins. The higher incorporation of labelled palmitate by immature spermatozoa of the caput epididymis compared with mature spermatozoa from the cauda epididymis and the addition of palmitate to plasma membrane proteins of caput epididymal spermatozoa suggest that fatty acylation is a post-translational modification of sperm membrane proteins.
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PMID:Studies on [3H]palmitate-binding proteins of rat spermatozoa: a post-translational modification of membrane proteins by fatty acid acylation. 903 83


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