Skip Navigation



Hum. Reprod. Advance Access published online on August 19, 2005
Human Reproduction, doi:10.1093/humrep/dei245
This Article
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF ) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
20/12/3459    most recent
dei245v1
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Martin, G.
Right arrow Articles by Levy, R.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Martin, G.
Right arrow Articles by Levy, R.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2005. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. All rights reserved.
Received March 24, 2005
Revised July 11, 2005
Accepted July 12, 2005

Article

Phosphatidylserine externalization in human sperm induced by calcium ionophore A23187: relationship with apoptosis, membrane scrambling and the acrosome reaction

Guillaume Martin 1, Odile Sabido 2, Philippe Durand 3, and Rachel Levy 4*

1 Laboratoire de Biologie de la Reproduction, GIMAP, Hôpital Nord, 42055 Saint-Etienne; INSERM U418 - INRA UMR1245, Hôpital Debrousse, 29 rue Soeur Bouvier, 69322 Lyon
2 Centre Commun de Cytométrie en Flux, Université Jean Monnet, 15 rue Ambroise Paré, 42023 Saint-Etienne Cedex 2, France
3 INSERM U418 - INRA UMR1245, Hôpital Debrousse, 29 rue Soeur Bouvier, 69322 Lyon
4 Laboratoire de Biologie de la Reproduction, GIMAP, Hôpital Nord, 42055 Saint-Etienne

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Rachel Levy, E-mail: rachel.levy{at}chu-st-etienne.fr


  Abstract

BACKGROUND: Translocation of phosphatidylserine (PS) from the inner to the outer leaflet of the plasma membrane is a modification of the lipid architecture occurring in sperm. This is one of the earliest signs of apoptosis that can be monitored by the calcium-dependent binding of annexin V. METHODS AND RESULTS: Flow cytometric analysis of annexin V binding was performed. Calcium ionophore A23187 led to a significant increase in the proportion of living sperm with PS exposure: 7.3 ± 3.2% of cells in the untreated ejaculate versus 47.5 ± 5.6% of cells after 1 h of incubation with A23187. Conversely, diminution of mitochondrial membrane potential [DiOC6(3)/propidium iodide (PI) assay], caspase activation [fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-Val-Ala-Asp-fluoromethylketone (VADFMK)/PI assay], increased plasma membrane permeability (Yo-Pro-1/PI assay) and increased DNA fragmentation[TdT (terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase)-mediated dUDP nick-end labelling assay], which are among the main signs of apoptosis, were not observed in sperm, even after 4 h of incubation with A23187. However, A23187 significantly increased the proportion of sperm with plasma membrane scrambling and with a reacted acrosome, as detected with the merocyanine 540 probe (M540) and the monoclonal anti-human CD46-PE antibody respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that PS exposure in human sperm, as induced by A23187, is mainly related to the acrosome reaction rather than to apoptosis.

Keywords: acrosome reaction/apoptosis/calcium ionophore A23187/capacitation/phosphatidylserine exposure.
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Hum ReprodHome page
S. Grunewald, C. Kriegel, T. Baumann, H.-J. Glander, and U. Paasch
Interactions between apoptotic signal transduction and capacitation in human spermatozoa
Hum. Reprod., September 1, 2009; 24(9): 2071 - 2078.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Hum ReprodHome page
S. Perticarari, G. Ricci, R. Boscolo, M. De Santis, G. Pagnini, M. Martinelli, and G. Presani
Fas receptor is not present on ejaculated human sperm
Hum. Reprod., June 1, 2008; 23(6): 1271 - 1279.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Mol Hum ReprodHome page
S. Marchiani, L. Tamburrino, A. Maoggi, G.B. Vannelli, G. Forti, E. Baldi, and M. Muratori
Characterization of M540 bodies in human semen: evidence that they are apoptotic bodies
Mol. Hum. Reprod., September 1, 2007; 13(9): 621 - 631.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.