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Morphological and Biochemical Changes of Isolated Chicken Egg-Envelope During Sperm Penetration: Degradation of the 97-Kilodalton Glycoprotein Is Involved in Sperm-Driven Hole Formation on the Egg-Envelope¹

^a Department of Applied Molecular Biosciences, Graduate School of Bioagricultural Sciences, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8601, Japan ^b Food Research Institute of Aichi Prefecture Government, Nagoya 451-0083, Japan

ABSTRACT

The chicken egg-envelope is made of two major glycoprotein components, which are designated as gp97 and gp42 (after their molecular masses). To elucidate how these two components are involved in macromolecular organization of the chicken egg-envelope, the isolated egg-envelope was characterized by immunochemical and biochemical methods. The gp97 was suggested to be a homologue of mouse ZPB based on the similarities of N-terminal and internal sequences. Immunoblotting using anti-gp97 monoclonal antibodies and two-dimensional gel electrophoresis with or without mercaptoethanol treatment revealed that gp97 formed a homodimer through disulfide bonds, whereas gp42 did not. Under indirect immunofluorescence microscopy, the anti-gp97 antibody visualized indistinct, small spots on the egg-envelope, whereas the anti-gp42 antibody showed a meshwork of blurry, fibrous structures. The hole formation on the egg-envelope by in vitro sperm penetration was completely inhibited by two anti-gp97 monoclonal antibodies. Interestingly, the anti-gp97 monoclonal antibodies blocked the proteolysis not only of gp97 but also of gp42 during incubation of the egg-envelope with either sperm or the crude chicken acrosin. Taken together, these results indicate that gp97 may play pivotal roles not only in constitution of the macromolecular organization of the egg-envelope but also in triggering hydrolysis of the egg-envelope during sperm penetration.

FOOTNOTES

First decision: 21 August 2000.

¹ Supported in part by Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (10660121 and 12556060 to T.M.) from the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture of Japan.

² Correspondence. FAX: 81 52 789 4128; tmatsuda{at}agr.nagoya-u.ac.jp

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