ePrints

The initiation and propagation of the fertilization wave in sea urchin eggs

Lookup NU author(s): Dr Alexander McDougall, Joanne Shearer, Emeritus Professor Michael Whitaker

Downloads

Full text for this publication is not currently held within this repository. Alternative links are provided below where available.

Abstract

Calcium waves sweep across most eggs of the deuterostome lineage at fertilization. The precise timing of the initiation and propagation of a fertilization calcium wave has been best studied in sea urchin embryos, since the rapid depolarization caused by sperm egg fusion can be detected as a calcium influx using confocal imaging of calcium indicator dyes. The time between sperm egg fusion and the first sign of the calcium increase that constitutes the calcium wave is comparable to the time it takes for the wave to sweep across the egg, once initiated. The latency and rise time of the calcium response is sensitive to inhibitors of the InsP3 signalling pathway, as reported previously. Using calcium green dextran and confocal microscopy, we confirm that the propagation time of the calcium wave is lengthened and that initiation of the calcium wave involves activation of calcium release at hot spots that may represent clusters of calcium release channels, as has been seen in other cell types. (C) 2000 Editions scientifiques et medicales Elsevier SAS.

Publication metadata

Author(s): McDougall A, Shearer J, Whitaker M

Publication type: Review

Publication status: Published

Journal: Biology of the Cell

Year: 2000

Volume: 92

Issue: 3-4

Pages: 205-214

Print publication date: 01/01/2000

ISSN (print): 0248-4900

ISSN (electronic): 1768-322X

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0248-4900(00)01073-X

DOI: 10.1016/S0248-4900(00)01073-X

PubMed id: 11043409

Share