Browse by author
Lookup NU author(s): Dr Suzanne Madgwick, Professor Keith Jones
Full text for this publication is not currently held within this repository. Alternative links are provided below where available.
Fertilization in mammalian eggs is accompanied by oscillatory changes in intracellular Ca2+ concentration, which are critical for initiating and completing egg activation events and the developmental program. Ca2+/Camodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) is a multifunctional enzyme that is postulated to be the downstream transducer of the Ca2+ signal in many cell types. We tested the hypothesis that CaMKII is the major integrator of Ca2+-induced egg activation events and embryo development by microinjecting a cRNA that encodes a constitutively active (Ca2+-independent) mutant form of CaMKII (CA-CaMKII) into mouse eggs. Expression of this cRNA, which does not increase intracellular Ca2+, induced a sustained rise in CaMKII activity and triggered egg activation events, including cell cycle resumption, and degradation and recruitment of maternal mRNAs; cortical granule exocytosis, however, did not occur normally. Furthermore, when mouse eggs were injected with sperm devoid of Ca2+-releasing activity and activated with either CA-CaMKII cRNA or by SrCl2, similar rates and incidence of development to the blastocyst stage were observed. These results strongly suggest that CaMKII is a major integrator of the Ca2+ changes that occur following fertilization. © 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Author(s): Knott JG, Gardner AJ, Madgwick S, Jones KT, Williams CJ, Schultz RM
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Developmental Biology
Year: 2006
Volume: 296
Issue: 2
Pages: 388-395
ISSN (print): 0012-1606
ISSN (electronic): 1095-564X
Publisher: Academic Press
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ydbio.2006.06.004
DOI: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2006.06.004
PubMed id: 16824507
Altmetrics provided by Altmetric