IMR Press / FBL / Volume 3 / Issue 4 / DOI: 10.2741/A348

Frontiers in Bioscience-Landmark (FBL) is published by IMR Press from Volume 26 Issue 5 (2021). Previous articles were published by another publisher on a subscription basis, and they are hosted by IMR Press on imrpress.com as a courtesy and upon agreement with Frontiers in Bioscience.

Article
Role of phospholipases during sperm acrosomal exocytosis
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1 Instituto de Bioquímica (CSIC-UCM), Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad Complutense, 28040-Madrid, Spain
Front. Biosci. (Landmark Ed) 1998, 3(4), 1109–1119; https://doi.org/10.2741/A348
Published: 15 October 1998
Abstract

During fertilization the spermatozoon undergoes a process of regulated exocytosis triggered by oocyte-associated agonists. An early response generated by agonist-receptor interaction in spermatozoa is the activation of mechanisms leading to Ca2+ influx, this ion being essential for the activation of phospholipases and for the fusion of the plasma membrane with the outer acrosomal membrane. Both a phosphoinositide-specific, and a phosphatidylcholine-specific phospholipase C are involved in the generation of a variety of diacylglycerol molecular species. Phospholipase D, on the other hand, does not seem to contribute (together with a phosphatidate phosphohydrolase) to a significant generation of diacylglycerol. Phospholipase A2 action serves to release fatty acids and to generate lysophospholipids that, either directly or serving as substrates for the generation of other metabolites, have and essential role in the final stages of membrane fusion. Additional work needs to be carried out in the future to characterize which phospholipase isoenzymes are present in mammalian spermatozoa and mechanisms regulating these enzymes.

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