Abstract
The innovation and development of live-cell fluorescence imaging methods have revealed the dynamic aspects of intracellular Ca2+ in a wide variety of cells. The fertilized egg, the very first cell to be a new individual, has long been under extensive investigations utilizing Ca2+ imaging since its early days, and spatiotemporal Ca2+ dynamics and underlying mechanisms of Ca2+ mobilization, as well as physiological roles of Ca2+ at fertilization, have become more or less evident in various animal species. In this article, we illustrate characteristic patterns of Ca2+ dynamics in mammalian gametes and molecular basis for Ca2+ release from intracellular stores leading to the elevation in cytoplasmic Ca2+ concentration, and describe the identity and properties of sperm-borne egg-activating factor in relation to the induction of Ca2+ waves and Ca2+ oscillations, referring to its potential use in artificial egg activation as infertility treatment. In addition, a possible Ca2+ influx-driven mechanism for slow and long-lasting Ca2+ oscillations characteristic of mammalian eggs is proposed, based on the recent experimental findings and mathematical modeling. Cumulative knowledge about the roles of Ca2+ in the egg activation leading to early embryogenesis is summarized, to emphasize the diversity of functions that Ca2+ can perform in a single type of cell.
Keywords: Calcium influx, Calcium oscillations, Calcium release, Calcium wave, Egg activation, Fertilization, Fluorescence imaging, Infertility, Inositol 1, 4, 5-trisphosphate, Phospholipase Cζ.
Current Topics in Medicinal Chemistry
Title:Calcium Signaling in Mammalian Eggs at Fertilization
Volume: 16 Issue: 24
Author(s): Hideki Shirakawa, Takashi Kikuchi and Masahiko Ito
Affiliation:
Keywords: Calcium influx, Calcium oscillations, Calcium release, Calcium wave, Egg activation, Fertilization, Fluorescence imaging, Infertility, Inositol 1, 4, 5-trisphosphate, Phospholipase Cζ.
Abstract: The innovation and development of live-cell fluorescence imaging methods have revealed the dynamic aspects of intracellular Ca2+ in a wide variety of cells. The fertilized egg, the very first cell to be a new individual, has long been under extensive investigations utilizing Ca2+ imaging since its early days, and spatiotemporal Ca2+ dynamics and underlying mechanisms of Ca2+ mobilization, as well as physiological roles of Ca2+ at fertilization, have become more or less evident in various animal species. In this article, we illustrate characteristic patterns of Ca2+ dynamics in mammalian gametes and molecular basis for Ca2+ release from intracellular stores leading to the elevation in cytoplasmic Ca2+ concentration, and describe the identity and properties of sperm-borne egg-activating factor in relation to the induction of Ca2+ waves and Ca2+ oscillations, referring to its potential use in artificial egg activation as infertility treatment. In addition, a possible Ca2+ influx-driven mechanism for slow and long-lasting Ca2+ oscillations characteristic of mammalian eggs is proposed, based on the recent experimental findings and mathematical modeling. Cumulative knowledge about the roles of Ca2+ in the egg activation leading to early embryogenesis is summarized, to emphasize the diversity of functions that Ca2+ can perform in a single type of cell.
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Cite this article as:
Shirakawa Hideki, Kikuchi Takashi and Ito Masahiko, Calcium Signaling in Mammalian Eggs at Fertilization, Current Topics in Medicinal Chemistry 2016; 16 (24) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1568026616666160413135406
DOI https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1568026616666160413135406 |
Print ISSN 1568-0266 |
Publisher Name Bentham Science Publisher |
Online ISSN 1873-4294 |
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