Free Ca2+ increases in exponential phases during mouse oocyte activation

A dramatic rise in cytoplasmic free Ca 2+ concentration has been shown to occur during fertilization and artificial activation in the oocytes of both the medaka fish 1 and sea urchin 2 . Indirect evidence has implicated Ca 2+ in the parthenogenetic activation of mammalian oocytes. Mouse oocytes can...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature (London) 1981-12, Vol.294 (5843), p.754-757
Main Authors: Cuthbertson, K. S. Roy, Whittingham, D. G., Cobbold, Peter H.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aequorin
Animals
Calcium - metabolism
Cytoplasm - metabolism
Female
Fertilization
Humanities and Social Sciences
letter
Mice
multidisciplinary
Oocytes - physiology
Ovum - physiology
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
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Summary:A dramatic rise in cytoplasmic free Ca 2+ concentration has been shown to occur during fertilization and artificial activation in the oocytes of both the medaka fish 1 and sea urchin 2 . Indirect evidence has implicated Ca 2+ in the parthenogenetic activation of mammalian oocytes. Mouse oocytes can be activated by the intracellular injection of Ca 2+ but not Mg 2+ (ref. 3), and hamster oocytes by exposure to the calcium ionophore, A23187 (ref. 4). We report here measurements of cytoplasmic free Ca 2+ during the artificial activation and fertilization of single mouse oocytes injected with the Ca 2+ -sensitive photoprotein aequorin. Free Ca 2+ rises exponentially from a resting level of below 0.1 µM to >5 µM over a period of 10–30 min. A series of oscillatory Ca 2+ transients precedes this Ca 2+ rise during fertilization, but not during artificial activation.
ISSN:0028-0836
1476-4687
DOI:10.1038/294754a0