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Query: UNIPROT:P56851 (epididymal)
 11,273 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The pH of the hamster sperm acrosome was estimated by a method based on the distribution of monoamines between membrane enclosed volumes maintaining pH gradients. A fluorescent amine, 9-aminoacridine, was used to permit both microscopic and fluorometric measurements of amine distribution. Cauda epididymal hamster sperm incubated with 9-aminoacridine accumulated the amine in the acrosomal volume. In the presence of NH4Cl or the ionophore Nigericin (compounds which discharge pH gradients) 9-aminoacridine fluorescence disappeared from the acrosome. Amine distribution between the acrosome and external volume was estimated by fluorometric measurement of sperm filtrates in the presence and absence of NH4Cl and Nigericin. These values, together with an estimated acrosomal volume of 0.4mu3 were used to calculate an acrosomal pH of less than 5. In addition, an acrosomal pH of 5 or less was obtained with 14C-methylamine. We suggest that such an acidic acrosomal pH of 5 or less could serve to inhibit the activation or autoactivation of the acrosomal zymogen proacrosin to acrosin, a trypsin-like enzyme involved in fertilization.
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PMID:The pH of the hamster sperm acrosome. 2 69

The effects of trypsin inhibitors and phospholipase inhibitors on the acrosome reaction of washed cauda epididymal sperm of golden hamsters were studied using two different incubation systems. One incubation system, a non-synchronous acrosome reaction inducing system, included the use of a highly purified BSA and a protein-free motility factor preparation from hamster adrenal gland. The other system was a relatively synchronous acrosome reaction-inducing-system utilizing the calcium ionophore A23187. Acrosome reactions were inhibited by three low molecular weight synthetic trypsin inhibitors, benzamidine, NPGB and TLCK, when they were added five minutes prior to the initial occurrence of acrosome reactions in the non-synchronous system or five minutes prior to induction of acrosome reactions by A23187 in the synchronous system. Two phospholipase A inhibitors, p-bromophenacyl bromide and mepacrine, were also effective in inhibiting hamster sperm acrosome reactions in both incubation systems. TPCK, an inhibitor of several non-trypsin-like proteases, indomethacin, a prostaglandin synthetase inhibitor, and soybean trypsin inhibitor, a large molecular weight polypeptide, did not inhibit acrosome reactions. The inhibition of those acrosome reactions induced by A23187 provides further indirect evidence that the effective inhibitors were functioning at a site within the sperm. The overall results provide: (1) further support for our earlier work suggesting the involvement of an internal trypsin-like enzyme (presumably acrosin) rather than an exogenous trypsin-like enzyme in the hamster sperm acrosome reaction and (2) the first evidence suggesting the possibility that a sperm phospholipase may also be involved in the mammalian acrosome reaction.
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PMID:Further evidence in support of a role for hamster sperm hydrolytic enzymes in the acrosome reaction. 57 94

Ram seminal plasma, and ejaculated ram spermatozoa that have been washed with 0.25M sucrose, both contain acrosin inhibitor. The aim of this work was to determine whether the intracellular inhibitor originates from the seminal plasma. The amounts of inhibitor in ejaculated and epididymal spermatozoa were measured and compared with the amounts present in the seminal plasma of normal and vasectomized rams. One ejaculated ram spermatozoon contained 2.1 amol (2.1 X 10(-18) mol) of inhibitor and one epididymal spermatozoon contained 3.3 amol of inhibitor. (All molarities are mean values based on pooled ram semen or on single ejaculates from three vasectomized rams.) Calculations from results in earlier publications indicated that one ejaculated ram spermatozoon contains about 3 amol of acrosin; thus the inhibitor: acrosin ratio in washed ram spermatozoa is approximately 1. One ml of ram semen contains, on average, 3 X 10(9) spermatozoa and not more than 0.8 ml of seminal plasma. This number of ejaculated spermatozoa would contain 6.3 nmol of inhibitor, while the same number of epididymal spermatozoa would contain 9.9 nmol of inhibitor. These values exceed the quantities of inhibitor present in 0.8 ml of normal seminal plasma (approximately 1.6 nmol) or in 0.8 ml of seminal plasma from vasectomized rams (approximately 2.3 nmol). We conclude that seminal plasma is not a major source of the acrosin inhibitor that can be recovered from washed ejaculated ram spermatozoa.
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PMID:An acrosin inhibitor in ram spermatozoa that does not originate from the seminal plasma. 121 86

Several studies suggest that acrosin, an acrosomal trypsin-like serine proteinase, plays a role in fertilization. The enzyme is present in an enzymatically inactive precursor form, called proacrosin and is believed to be converted to the enzymatically active form(s) through one/multiple physiological event(s) prior to the sperm penetration of the zona pellucida. Although, the proacrosin-acrosin system of several species has been well documented, the study of the enzyme system in bovine caput and cauda epididymis (where the maturation of spermatozoa occurs) has not been characterized. The present study demonstrates the quantification and partial characterization of the proacrosin-acrosin proteinase system in unpurified acrosomal extracts of bovine caput and cauda epididymal sperm. Proacrosin activation followed the sigmoidal type of activation curve. Activation experiments demonstrate that almost 80-90% of this protein exists in zymogen (proacrosin) form either in ejaculated or caput and cauda epididymal spermatozoa. Time-course activation studies showed that the zymogen in isolated spermatozoa was completely converted to active non-zymogen form in 3 and 5 h after removal from the cauda and caput regions, respectively, at pH 8.0 at 25 degrees C. This conversion was markedly inhibited by calcium in a dose dependent manner and the inhibition was reversible. On the other hand, calcium has a stimulatory effect on the hydrolytic activity of acrosin. These studies reveal that the proacrosin-acrosin system can be identified in crude extracts of bull epididymal and ejaculated sperm.
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PMID:Bovine epididymal sperm proacrosin-acrosin system: quantification and partial characterization. 150 54

Acrosin, an acrosomal serine protease, is believed to have a role in fertilization. The enzyme is synthesized in an enzymatically inactive precursor form, proacrosin, and is processed to enzymatically active form(s). In the studies presented here, maturation-associated changes in the proacrosin-acrosin system of rat spermatozoa are reported. Acid-solubilized components of spermatozoa from caput, corpus, and cauda epididymidis were resolved on gelatin-sodium dodecyl sulfatepolyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and the proteolytic bands visualized by enzymography. These studies reveal the presence of one form (52 kDa), two forms (52 and 41 kDa), and four forms (52, 41, 34, and 31 kDa) in the spermatozoa from caput, corpus, and cauda, respectively. The findings suggest that the enzymatically inactive high molecular weight component (proacrosin) present in the caput spermatozoa is partially converted to the low molecular weight components (acrosin) during epididymal transit. The sensitivity of these molecular forms to an inhibitor of acrosin, p-nitrophenyl p'-guanidino benzoate (NPGB), and the fact that all four forms cross-reacted with the antibody against guinea pig testis proacrosin, suggest that these molecular forms are proacrosin-acrosin components. To understand the mechanism of the changes in molecular forms, spermatozoa from caput, corpus, and cauda regions were subjected to in vitro activation, and the acid-solubilized components resolved on gelatin-SDS-polyacrylamide gel. A smaller component of 34 kDa was generated from both the caput and corpus spermatozoa. No changes in the molecular form(s) of cauda spermatozoa were observed, even after in vitro activation for 4 hours. Inclusion of NPGB during in vitro activation blocked generation of the new molecular form from the caput spermatozoa. These studies indicate that intra-acrosomal events during epididymal transit may be important in the production of functionally mature spermatozoa.
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PMID:Biochemical alterations in the proacrosin-acrosin system during epididymal maturation of the rat spermatozoa. 155 5

An understanding of epididymal maturation of sperm requires descriptions of changes in membrane properties and their relation to changes in cell function. While sperm membranes have been studied in some detail in rams, few reports address associated functional changes. This report provides such data by evaluating (a) the time course of sperm acrosome reaction (AR) induction for cells from each epididymal region; (b) the capacity of epididymal sperm to penetrate ova; (c) differences in physiological AR and general sperm degeneration; and (d) acrosin release of epididymal sperm. Ram epididymal (caput, corpus, and proximal and distal cauda) and ejaculated (EJ) sperm were incubated in vitro to assess their capacity to undergo an AR. Light microscopy revealed that in sperm populations which had traversed the proximal cauda epididymidis, greater than or equal to 50% exhibited an endogenous AR in less time (less than 17 h) than did sperm isolated from more proximal regions of the epididymis (22-greater than 50 h). Heparin added to sperm did not stimulate the AR in epididymal or EJ sperm, whereas addition of a calcium ionophore (A23187) increased AR rates for cauda and EJ sperm, but not caput or corpus sperm. A second experiment evaluating percent AR, percent motile cells, and percent hamster ova penetrated revealed that sperm isolated from regions proximal to the cauda epididymidis failed to penetrate ova. When cauda or EJ sperm exhibited motility greater than 5% and AR greater than 24%, penetration of hamster eggs occurred. Comparisons of acrosomal integrity by electron or light microscopy were not different for sperm at any stage of epididymal maturation, suggesting that minimal nonspecific membrane changes occur and that light microscopy is valid for evaluating the acrosomal status of ram spermatozoa. Acrosin activity (sperm bound and dissociated) also was measured. Both total activity and release of acrosin from sperm to the medium during an 8-h incubation was greater for mature than for immature sperm. Results from these experiments are discussed in relation to the changes that must occur in sperm as they acquire the capacity to undergo an AR and penetrate hamster ova.
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PMID:Determination of the capacity of ram epididymal and ejaculated sperm to undergo the acrosome reaction and penetrate ova. 187 83

An inactive form of acrosin was extracted from epididymal boar spermatozoa utilizing acid pH conditions. When subjected to activation in alkaline environment, this form turns into an enzymatically active species, which exhibits close-related electrophoretic characteristics. Both the precursor and the activated species, when incubated in the presence of thermolysin, give rise to two fastly moving acrosin molecular forms. In order to establish the nature of the true acrosin zymogen, we isolated poly(A+)-RNA from boar testicles, performed its translation in vitro in the presence of [35S]-methionine and reticulocyte lysate, immunoprecipitated the translation products with anti-boar acrosin antibody, and analyzed them by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and autoradiography. A single translation product of molecular weight 55,000 was detected. It is concluded that the polypeptide chain of the boar zymogen is of 55,000; increases in molecular weight are due to post-translational modifications, like glycosylation.
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PMID:Biochemical studies on proacrosin and acrosin from epididymal boar spermatozoa: in vitro translation of boar testicular proacrosin mRNA. 309 Oct 10

The proacrosin-acrosin proteinase system was measured and partially characterized in unpurified extracts of washed hamster epididymal sperm. Autoactivation experiments demonstrated that proacrosin accounted for greater than 98% of the acrosin activity in the sperm extracts from individual animals. Several bands of proteinase activity were observed on gelatin-sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoretic (gelatin-SDS-PAGE) zymography. The major proteinase activities in the nonactivated extracts corresponded to relative molecular masses (Mr) of 51,000 to 56,000, while less distinct digestion occurred with relative molecular masses of 37,000 to 49,000. It was demonstrated that after a serial dilution of the sperm extract, the proteinase activity in as few as 6,000 sperm could readily be detected by the gelatin-SDS-PAGE methods. Time-course activation studies showed that the zymogen was completely converted to active proteinase in 45-60 min at pH 8.0 and 25 degrees C. This autoconversion process was markedly inhibited by calcium, sodium, and heparin. However, each of these compounds stimulated the proteolytic activity of acrosin. These studies demonstrate that the proacrosin-acrosin system can be investigated in extracts of nonpurified hamster epididymal sperm.
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PMID:Quantification and partial characterization of the hamster sperm proacrosin-acrosin system. 309 98

The relationship between structure and activity of acid-extracted and purified acrosin obtained from cauda epididymal hamster spermatozoa was studied. A four-step purification procedure of acrosin was used; it included 1.) acid extraction, 2.) gel filtration over Sephadex G-100 resin, 3.) ion exchange on CM-Sepharose CL-6B, and 4.) affinity chromatography on proflavin-Sepharose 4B. Analysis of the purified enzyme by high-performance liquid chromatography (300 SW + I-125) revealed a molecular weight of 44,000, which was identical to that obtained for acid-extracted acrosin. Slab-gel electrophoresis under nondenaturing conditions showed only one active band, as revealed with a highly sensitive assay using N alpha-benzyloxycarbonyl-L-lysine thiobenzyl ester as substrate. The radiation inactivation size of acid extracted acrosin was calculated to be 8400. This small unit could represent the active polypeptide portion of a larger monomer molecule or could represent the size of active subunits. Because acrosin is autocatalytic and highly active during fertilization, it is suggested that the active portion of the completely processed form of the enzyme is of small molecular weight.
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PMID:Radiation inactivation of hamster acrosin reveals that the biologically active unit is of low molecular size. 347 95

Acrosin and hyaluronidase demonstrated different release patterns following treatment of living spermatozoa with the Ca2+-ionophore A 23187. One hour after the acrosomal reaction about 50% of the acrosin was still associated with the spermatozoal membranes, while hyaluronidase could no longer be detected in the spermatozoal remnants. Strong fixation conditions with acrolein and glutaraldehyde were used to prevent redistribution and leakage of these sperm proteins. Lost antigenicity was restored with sodium-borohydride and pronase E treatment. Immunofluorescent localization showed hyaluronidase to be confined to the anterior portion of the acrosome. Acrosin was localized throughout the entire acrosome including the equatorial segment. By immunoelectron microscopy, hyaluronidase was exclusively found in the acrosomal matrix. The equatorial segment was devoid of hyaluronidase. Acrosin was found in the acrosomal matrix as well as on the outer acrosomal membrane. Furthermore, labeling for acrosin in the equatorial segment was clearly demonstrated. Localization of hyaluronidase was the same for epididymal and ejaculated sperm cells but in approximately 70% of the epididymal spermatozoa acrosin could not be detected in the equatorial segment. In most of these epididymal cells acrosin was confined to the anterior part of the acrosome comparable with hyaluronidase. These observations support the motion that the appearance of acrosin in the equatorial segment is part of the maturation process during passage through the epididymis.
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PMID:Immunocytochemical localization of acrosin and hyaluronidase in epididymal and ejaculated porcine spermatozoa. 392 82


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