Abstract
AbstractFertilization of the sea urchin egg involves an exocytotic event known as the cortical granule reaction (CGR). In many cell systems, phospholipase A2 is implicated in regulation of the secretory event. Indirect evidence suggests that phospholipase A2 mediates the CGR; however, there has been no direct demonstration of phospholipase A2 activity in the sea urchin egg. We report here evidence of phospholipase A2 activity in egg homogenate of the sea urchin Lytechinus pictus. The enzyme was calcium‐dependent and had a pH optimum near the intracellular pH of the unfertilized egg. Neither exogenous calmodulin nor trifluoperazine had any apparent effect on enzyme activity. Quinacrine, a phospholipase A2 inhibitor, blocked the enzyme activity in the egg homogenate. In intact eggs, quinacrine blocked the CGR in a dose‐dependent, egg‐concentration‐dependent manner. The inhibitory effect of quinacrine on the CGR could not be overcome by the phospholipase A2 activator melittin or by the calcium ionophore A23187. Quinacrine did not inhibit sperm‐egg binding or sperm incorporation. These results lend further support to the hypothesis that phospholipase A2 is involved in the CGR.
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