Abstract
Fertilization of the sea urchin egg is a dramatic example of cell activation resulting from the interaction of an external stimulus, the spermatozoon, with the cell surface1. Growing and quiescent cells may have different membrane states2. Here we report membrane fluidity measurements on a surface membrane fraction, the cortex, isolated from unfertilized and fertilized eggs. The fluidity of the fertilized egg cortex, measured by electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy using 5-doxy 1st ear at e as a probe, is less than that of the unfertilized cortex. In the intact egg the intracellular Ca2+ concentration increases after fertilization and this transient rise seems to be localized in the cortex3. The addition of Ca2+ to the cortex fraction isolated from unfertilized eggs triggers a fluidity decrease in vitro. The fluidity decrease seems to represent a Ca2+-induced change in membrane structure rather than a direct interaction of Ca2+ with phospholipid headgroups.
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Campisi, J., Scandella, C. Calcium-induced decrease in membrane fluidity of sea urchin egg cortex after fertilization. Nature 286, 185–186 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1038/286185a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/286185a0
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