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B T Storey

Publications and source records attributed to B T Storey.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Induction and characterization of acrosome reaction in equine spermatozoa.

Equine spermatozoa were incubated in a chemically defined medium for 8 hours. The medium preserved spermatozoal viability, as assessed by total spermatozoal motility, progressive spermatozoal motility, and spermatozoal exclusion of eosin stain. Effects of time and divalent cation ionophore, A23187, on the occurrence and character of the spermatozoal acrosome reaction were determined. Two light microscopic assays, a triple-stain technique and a chlortetracycline fluorescence assay, were calibrated with transmission electron microscopy for detection of the acrosome reaction. Incubation time and A23187 addition increased the percentage of acrosome reactions in sperm populations (P less than 0.05).

Acrosome↗

Bicarbonate is essential for fertilization of mouse eggs: mouse sperm require it to undergo the acrosome reaction.

Fertilization of mouse eggs by capacitated mouse sperm occurs readily in vitro in a defined culture medium designated medium CM, derived from Krebs-Ringer bicarbonate medium by supplementation with glucose, lactate, pyruvate, and albumin. Medium CM contains 25 mM HCO-3 equilibrated with CO2 to pH 7.4. Replacement of the CO2/HCO-3 buffer with 25 mM N-hydroxyethylpiperazine-N-ethanesulfonate (HEPES) while otherwise maintaining pH, ionic strength, and composition identical to that of medium CM, yielded medium HM in which the percentage of in vitro fertilization observed was consistently zero. Addition of 10 mM HCO-3 to medium HM yielded medium HMB, in which the percentage of eggs fertilized was 70%, equal to that observed in medium CM. This percentage applies to cumulus-free, zona-intact eggs. With zona-free eggs, the percentage fertilization increased to 90% in media CM and HMB, but remained zero in medium HM. This result shows that HEPES does not inhibit fertilization while omission of CO2/HCO-3 blocks it completely. Capacitation of mouse sperm, as determined by chlortetracycline fluorescence assay, proceeded at the same rate in media CM and HMB, but was retarded in medium HM. Sufficient sperm became capacitated, however, that this could not be the block of fertilization. The acrosome reaction in sperm bound to isolated zonae pellucidae, as also determined by chlortetracycline fluorescence assay, occurred with the same time course in media CM and HMB, but did not occur in medium HM.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Acrosome↗

Rat lung carbonic anhydrase: activity, localization, and isozymes.

Carbonic anhydrase activity in rat lungs perfused free of blood was localized by homogenization of the tissue followed by differential centrifugation. Four fractions were obtained from the homogenate, a cell debris pellet with a mitochondrial pellet and a microsomal pellet with a clear cytosol supernatant. The last named fraction contained 67% of the total enzyme activity; the cell debris contained 18%, and the mitochondrial and microsomal contained 8 and 7%, respectively. Of the 33% of enzyme activity associated with the pellet fraction, 25% could be experimentally defined as membrane associated by its solubilization with 0.3 M tris-(hydroxymethyl) aminoethane sulfate buffer. The remainder was defined as membrane bound. Purification of the soluble carbonic anhydrase from the lung yielded two isozymes with electrophoretic and inhibitor sensitivities apparently identical with the blood isozymes. Hemoglobin analysis showed that the lung isozymes could not have included more than 0.03% enzyme from blood contamination. The carbonic anhydrase activity present in the whole rat lung would give an average acceleration of the CO2 hydration reaction under physiological conditions over the uncatalyzed rate of 122, sufficient to maintain equilibration between CO2 and plasma HCO3- during blood transit of the lung. If the membrane-associated activity is mostly on the plasma membrane of the endothelial cells and available to the capillary blood, it would be sufficient to give this acceleration. We suggest that the possible source of this membrane-associated activity might be adsorption from the blood of carbonic anhydrase liberated by erythrocyte lysis.

Animals↗

Evidence for diplasmalogen as the major component of rabbit sperm phosphatidylethanolamine.

The question of whether diplasmalogens [1,2-di(O-1'-alkenyl) phosphatidyl derivatives] make up part of the plasmalogen component of cell phospholipids was examined using rabbit epididymal spermatozoa. These cells are readily obtained as a highly homogeneous suspension and long have been known to have high plasmalogen content. Phospholipids were determined by thin layer chromatography (TLC) with CuSO4 staining. Plasmalogens were determined by hydrolysis of the phospholipids with TCA/HCl, followed by TLC and CuSO4 staining. Ethanolamine derivatives were determined by ninhydrin. The phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) content of these cells was 29 +/- 2 micrograms/10(8) cells, 90% of which was assayed as diplasmalogen and 10% as diacyl PE. No monoplasmalogen could be detected. The presence of diplasmalogen as the major component of PE was given further support from infrared and proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR) spectroscopy, which showed the presence of O-1'-alkenyl substituents but near absence of O-acyl substituents. The phosphatidylcholine (PC) content of the cells was 104 +/- 5 mu/10(8) cells, of which 50% was monoplasmalogen with the 1'-alkenyl group on the 2 position of the glycerol moiety. No diplasmalogen was found in PC. The other phospholipids in rabbit sperm were phosphatidylglycerol (PG), cardiolipin (CL), sphingomyelin (SP) and lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC). Phosphatidylserine (PS) and phosphatidylinositol (PI) were present at the limits of detectability of the TLC method. None of these phospholipids contained plasmalogen. The PE component of rabbit sperm phospholipids appears to differ from that of the other cells in having the previously unreported diplasmalogen as its major constituent.

Animals↗

Spontaneous lipid peroxidation in rabbit and mouse epididymal spermatozoa: dependence of rate on temperature and oxygen concentration.

The rate of spontaneous lipid peroxidation, as measured by formation of malonaldehyde (MA), was determined as a function of O2 concentration and temperature in mouse and rabbit spermatozoa released from the cauda epididymidis. The peroxidation rate was linear in O2 concentration in the suspending medium up to 210 microM (the concentration at PO2 of ambient air at 34 degrees C) for sperm from both species over the temperature range 34-40 degrees C. This is the range over which the reaction is measurable for both species: below 34 degrees C, the rates become too slow to be measured accurately for rabbit sperm by our methods, while above 40 degrees C the rates for mouse sperm become too rapid. This narrow range is characteristic of a high activation energy (EA) for the peroxidation process. Values of EA were calculated from plots of kox versus (T)-1, where kox is a second order rate constant with the units (10(8) cells/ml)-1 min-1. It is defined by the equation: vma = kox (Sp) (O2), where vma is the rate of malonaldehyde production, (Sp) is concentration of sperm cells and (O2) is the O2 concentration in the suspending medium. For mouse sperm, EA was calculated to 78.7 kcal/mol (329 KJ/mol); for rabbit sperm, the value was 77.6 kcal/ml (324 KJ/mol). These high EAs and consequent steep dependence of the spontaneous lipid peroxidation rates on temperature favor long sperm life in the epididymis at around 32 degrees C and low PO2 in these scrotal animals, while allowing for a relatively short life at 37 degrees C at higher PO2 in the oviduct.

Animals↗

Evidence for plasma membrane impermeability to small ions in acrosome-intact mouse spermatozoa bound to mouse zonae pellucidae, using an aminoacridine fluorescent pH probe: time course of the zona-induced acrosome reaction monitored by both chlortetracycline and pH probe fluorescence.

Previous studies have shown that capacitated mouse spermatozoa bind to zonae pellucidae of mouse eggs with acrosomes apparently intact. The question addressed in this study was the following: are the membrane permeability barriers of the apparently acrosome-intact sperm still retained or is there a preliminary stage of the acrosome reaction in which these barriers are lost and the intracellular space becomes accessible to extracellular substrates? The experimental approach was to use the fluorescent pH probe 9-amino-3-chloro-7-methoxyacridine, which accumulates in intracellular spaces of lower pH than the suspending medium with the result that the cells become fluorescent. Freshly capacitated mouse spermatozoa bound to isolated zonae showed uniform fluorescence over the head and midpiece with this fluorescent probe at early times of binding. The fluorescence was abolished by NH4+ and nigericin, agents that equilibrate H+ across cell membranes. At these early times of binding, the acrosomes were fully intact as judged by chlortetracycline fluorescence pattern, which itself was unaffected by either N4+ or nigericin. The time course of the loss of this chlortetracycline pattern characteristic of acrosome-intactness was closely paralleled by loss of fluorescence of 9-amino-3-chloro-6-methoxyacridine over the first 90 min; thereafter, loss of the chlortetracycline pattern was somewhat more rapid. This result shows that acrosome-intact sperm bound to zonae pellucidae retain the permeability barriers of the plasma membrane to small cations; no evidence was found for an early stage of membrane "leakiness" preceding the acrosome reaction. The ionophore A23187 induced a very rapid acrosome reaction in sperm bound to isolated zonae, as judged with both fluorescence probes. This rapid reaction was partially inhibited by 3-quinuclidinyl benzilate, which, in the absence of ionophore, completely blocks the occurrence of the acrosome reaction in sperm bound to zonae. This suggests involvement of a specific calcium entry mechanism in the acrosome reaction of mouse sperm induced by mouse zonae pellucidae.

Acrosome↗

Calcium flux and endogenous calcium content in isolated mammalian growth-plate chondrocytes, hyaline-cartilage chondrocytes, and hepatocytes.

The role of chondrocyte mitochondria in endochondral ossification has been the subject of intensive investigation and controversy. The purpose of this study was to quantitate the endogenous calcium content and the maximum capacity for calcium accumulation and release in isolated mammalian growth-plate chondrocytes and hyaline-cartilage chondrocytes. The results indicated that the mitochondria of the isolated growth-plate and hyaline-cartilage chondrocytes possess a greater endogenous calcium content, a greater capacity for calcium accumulation, and a larger labile Ca+2 pool than do the mitochondria of hepatocytes. Growth-plate and hyaline-cartilage mitochondria had an endogenous calcium content of 908 and 142 nanomoles of Ca+2 per milligram of mitochondrial protein. The growth-plate mitochondria had a maximum calcium capacity of 5249 nanomoles of Ca+2 per milligram of mitochondrial protein. In comparison, the mitochondria of hepatocytes had a much smaller endogenous-calcium content and a smaller maximum Ca+2 capacity: twenty-one and 3262 nanomoles of Ca+2 per milligram of mitochondrial protein, respectively. The mitochondrial labile-calcium pool in both growth-plate and hyaline-cartilage chondrocytes was twofold greater than that in the mitochondria of hepatocytes. Chondrocyte mitochondria released approximately 2400 nanomoles of Ca+2 per milligram of mitochondrial protein, whereas hepatocyte mitochondria released 1200 nanomoles of Ca+2 per milligram. These results suggest that the chondrocyte mitochondria are specialized for calcium transport and are important in the calcification of the extracellular matrix of the growth plate.

Animals↗

Characterization of growth plate mitochondria.

The growth plate chondrocyte plays a central role in growth plate function. The purpose of this study was to characterize the respiratory and calcium transport properties of isolated mammalian growth plate chondrocytes and mitochondria obtained from these cells and to quantitate the mitochondrial weight and volume fraction in each zone of the growth plate. A new method was developed for isolation of mitochondria from chondrocyte suspensions. Isolated chondrocyte mitochondria demonstrated an eightfold increase in oxygen consumption in response to calcium and a two- to threefold increase in oxygen consumption in response to adenosine diphosphate. Similar responses were observed in chondrocytes treated with digitonin. The mitochondrial protein content of the growth plate and hyaline cartilage chondrocytes is significantly less than hepatocytes. Conversely, the chondrocyte mitochondrial cytochrome aa3 content is similar to mitochondria from a wide variety of sources. A zonal analysis of the growth plate demonstrates an increase in the mitochondrial weight (protein) fraction from the reserve to the hypertrophic zone whereas the mitochondrial volume fraction decreases from the reserve to the hypertrophic zone. The findings of this study emphasize the dependence of chondrocytes on glycolysis as a prime energy source and support the concept that chondrocyte mitochondria have become specialized in the process of matrix calcification.

Animals↗

Determination of the time course of capacitation in mouse spermatozoa using a chlortetracycline fluorescence assay.

The heads of mouse spermatozoa obtained 5 min after release from the excised caudae epididymides showed a characteristic fluorescence pattern in the presence of the fluorophore chlortetracycline (CTC). There was uniform fluorescence over the entire head with about half the sperm population showing a brighter line of fluorescence across the equatorial segment; this fluorescence pattern was designated "F". After 90-min incubation in culture medium (CM) containing 2% (w/v) bovine serum albumin, most of the sperm heads showed a dark band of nonfluorescence over the equatorial and postequatorial segment, while the anterior portion of the head showed bright fluorescence. This fluorescence pattern was designated "B." The time course for the disappearance of pattern F matched the time course of the appearance of pattern B, with a half-time of 30 min. The transformation was complete in 90 min. At longer times of incubation in CM, the percentage of spermatozoa showing pattern B declined; fluorescence over the entire head was lost, characteristic of the pattern for acrosome-reacted sperm (P. M. Saling and B. T. Storey (1979). J. Cell Biol. 83, 544-555). Mouse sperm showing pattern B were able to undergo the acrosome reaction, either spontaneously or by induction with acid-solubilized zonae pellucidae from mouse eggs (H.M. Florman and B. T. Storey (1982). Dev. Biol. 91, 121-130). The latter reaction was blocked by its specific inhibitor 3-quinuclidinyl benzilate (QNB). Mouse sperm showing pattern F could not be induced to undergo the acrosome reaction by exposure to solubilized zonae. This implies that the change from fluorescence pattern F to fluorescence pattern B corresponds with changes in the sperm which make them susceptible to undergo the acrosome reaction. This change occurs during the time interval previously determined to be needed for capacitation of mouse sperm in vitro in CM (M. Inoue and D. P. Wolf (1975). Biol. Reprod. 13, 340-346). These results imply that spermatozoa showing CTC fluorescence pattern B can be considered to be capacitated and that a functional definition for capacitation is the acquired ability to undergo the acrosome reaction rapidly when treated with acid-solubilized zonae pellucidae. The CTC fluorescence assay provides for the first time a means to monitor the time course of epididymal mouse sperm capacitation in vitro.

Acrosome↗

Assessment of cell damage caused by spontaneous lipid peroxidation in rabbit spermatozoa.

Damage to the plasma membrane of rabbit epididymal spermatozoa during spontaneous lipid peroxidation was examined by means of trypan blue uptake and expression of activity of the intracellular enzymes, lactate dehydrogenase and pyruvate kinase. Both the dye uptake and the expression of enzyme activity probe cell damage from lipid peroxidation as loss of integrity of the plasma membrane. A linear correlation was obtained between trypan blue staining of the cells and malondialdehyde production, a quantifiable measure of the extent of lipid peroxidation. At the point of trypan blue staining of all cells, 0.5 nmol malondialdehyde/10(8) cells was produced. This is the same amount produced at the point of complete loss of motility and superoxide dismutase activity. We have defined this as the "lipoperoxidative lethal end point." Expression of lactate dehydrogenase and pyruvate kinase activities increased with time of aerobic incubation. In the high Na+ medium, NTP, in which lipid peroxidation is slow, there is a linear correlation between increase in expressed enzyme activities and malondialdehyde production. But in the high K+ medium, KTP, in which lipid peroxidation is rapid, there is an initial rapid rise in expressed enzyme activity over 3 h, followed by a slower increase. Activities of rabbit sperm lactate dehydrogenase, pyruvate kinase, and flagellar ATPase were unaffected by aerobic incubations for up to 48 h, double the incubation period used for the assay of enzymatic activities for the first two. The activity of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase decreased during aerobic incubation, the time course matching the loss of motility. The subcellular distribution of lactate dehydrogenase in rabbit spermatozoa was determined: 4% in the mitochondrial matrix, 10% in the plasma membrane and 85% in the cytosolic compartment.

Adenosine Triphosphatases↗

Lipid peroxidation and the reactions of superoxide and hydrogen peroxide in mouse spermatozoa.

Mouse spermatozoa released from the cauda epididymidis underwent spontaneous lipid peroxidation during aerobic incubation at 37 degrees C in medium containing 113 mM NaCl, 0.4 mM EDTA, and 15 mM sodium phosphate ( NTPC ). The rate of lipid peroxidation, as measured by malonaldehyde production, was 0.045 nmol malonaldehyde/h per 10(3) cells. The motility of these cells declined with time in medium NTPC ; the percent spermatozoa showing no motility increased linearly with production of malonaldehyde. All flagellar activity stopped at 0.80 nmol malonaldehyde/10(8) cells, independent of the malonaldehyde production rate. Spermatozoa suspended in NTPC at 24 degrees C produced O(2), with an intrinsic rate of 1.96 nmol/min per 10(8) cells; this increased to 3.80 nmol/min per 10(8) cells in 10 mM cyanide. Mouse sperm contain 3.5 U/10(8) cells of superoxide dismutase activity, 91% of which is sensitive, and 9% of which is insensitive, to cyanide inhibition. Mouse sperm also produce H2O2, all of which can be attributed to the action of superoxide dismutase on O(2) produced. Mouse sperm contain high levels of glutathione and of glutathione reductase and peroxidase activities, implicating the glutathione system as the major protective enzyme system against cell damage by autoxidation. This is in contrast to rabbit spermatozoa, which have little endogenous glutathione and rely on superoxide dismutase as protective enzyme against peroxidative damage.

Animals↗

Binding of mouse spermatozoa to the zonae pellucidae of mouse eggs in cumulus: evidence that the acrosomes remain substantially intact.

Cumulus-intact mouse eggs inseminated in vitro with capacitated mouse sperm have sperm bound to the zonae pellucidae as early as 20 min postinsemination. Maximal sperm binding was observed at 60 min, after which time the number of sperm bound per egg decreased to about 30% of maximal. This extent of binding remained constant from 120 to 180 min postinsemination. All the sperm bound to the zonae had intact acrosomes as determined by chlortetracycline fluorescence assay. The sperm binding was retarded during the first 60 min by 3-quinuclidinyl benzilate, a specific inhibitor of the acrosome reaction induced by zona glycoprotein, but this compound had no effect on sperm binding during the next 60 min. The observation that sperm, which bind to zonae pellucidae after traversing the cumulus, have intact acrosomes is consistent with the same observation of intact acrosomes made with sperm binding to cumulus-free eggs [Saling and Storey (1979). J. Cell Biol. 83:544-555], and further supports the hypothesis that the sequence of events leading to fertilization of mouse eggs is: binding of intact sperm to the zona pellucida followed by the acrosome reaction induced by zona glycoprotein.

Acrosome↗

Contribution of matrix carbonic anhydrase to citrulline synthesis in isolated guinea pig liver mitochondria.

Synthesis of citrulline from ornithine, NH4+, and HCO3- by isolated pig liver mitochondria is inhibited by acetazolamide, a specific inhibitor of carbonic anhydrase, at the same concentrations which inhibit the mitochondrial matrix carbonic anhydrase. At an acetazolamide concentration sufficient to give complete inhibition of matrix carbonic anhydrase, the rate of citrulline synthesis is reduced by 71%, but no further decrease in citrulline is observed at higher concentrations of acetazolamide. Stimulation of O2 uptake by ornithine under conditions of maximal citrulline synthesis is also inhibited by acetazolamide. At pH 6.7, the ratio of citrulline synthesis is depressed relative to the rates observed over the range 7.2-7.7, and acetazolamide inhibits this rate by only 20%. These results support the hypothesis that the physiological role of carbonic anhydrase in liver mitochondria is to supply HCO3- as the substrate for the enzyme carbamoyl phosphate synthetase I, which provides the intermediate carbamoylphosphate in the rate-limiting step of citrulline synthesis. Since the uncatalyzed rate of CO2 hydration is rapid enough that it should not be rate-limiting for the carbamoylphosphate synthetase reaction, carbonic anhydrase appears to regulate access of HCO3- in the synthetase and so should be considered as one of the enzymes participating in the biosynthetic pathway leading to urea formation in the hepatocyte.

Acetazolamide↗

Taurine, hypotaurine, epinephrine and albumin inhibit lipid peroxidation in rabbit spermatozoa and protect against loss of motility.

Loss of forward motility of rabbit epididymal spermatozoa in high K+ phosphate buffer is inhibited by taurine, hypotaurine, epinephrine and bovine serum albumin. Pyruvate and lactate also show this effect. The rate of lipid peroxidation in these spermatozoa, as measured by rate of formation of malondialdehyde, is also inhibited by these agents. A close linear correlation between percent inert spermatozoa and malondialdehyde was found, which was independent of the rate of peroxidation. Complete cessation of motility was observed at 0.5 nmol malondialdehyde/10(8) cells in the absence or presence of these agents, which is the same value found in other suspending media in a previous study [Alvarez and Storey (1982) Biol. Reprod. 27:1102-1108]. Albumin was the most effective agent in preventing loss of motility and inhibiting lipid peroxidation. Hypotaurine was the next most effective, followed by taurine, epinephrine, pyruvate and lactate. Hypotaurine reduces the amount of rate of superoxide production, as measured by the rate of reduction of acetylated ferricytochrome c by O(2), from rabbit sperm under these conditions and concomitantly reduces inactivation of the superoxide dismutase in these cells. Since superoxide seems to be the major inducer of lipid peroxidation in rabbit sperm, the protective effect of hypotaurine, which should be readily permeant to the plasma membrane, may be ascribed to scavenging of intracellular superoxide. The mechanism of the protective action of albumin is not known. Rabbit epididymal spermatozoa lose motility over time if Ca2+ or Mg2+ are omitted from the suspending medium.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗