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J L Stephano

Publications and source records attributed to J L Stephano.

4 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1991

Peptides from sperm acrosomal protein that initiate egg development.

How sperm initiate egg development is being investigated with gametes of the marine worm Urechis. Sperm acrosomal protein, previously shown to activate eggs (Gould et al., 1986, Dev. Biol. 117, 306-318; Gould and Stephano, 1987, Science 235, 1654-1656), was enzymatically cleaved into soluble peptide fragments. When this mixture was added to eggs they activated, and parthenogenetic cleavage often occurred. An active peptide (P23) was purified from the mixture and its sequence was determined to be Val-Ala-Lys-Lys-Pro-Lys. Synthetic peptide had the same biological activity. P23 induced eggs to undergo the complete sequence of changes that normally follows fertilization, including the fertilization potential, completion of meiosis, and DNA replication. When a sperm centrosome was introduced into eggs by prefertilization without activation, and the eggs were subsequently activated by P23, they developed normally to trochophore larvae (the contribution of another sperm component is not ruled out by this experiment). P23 covalently coupled to bovine serum albumin also activated eggs, showing that it acted on the external surface of the egg. The peptide did not activate sea urchin eggs, but did cause oyster eggs to undergo germinal vesicle breakdown.

Acrosome↗
PubMed1987

Electrical responses of eggs to acrosomal protein similar to those induced by sperm.

The earliest known response of eggs to sperm in many species is a change in egg membrane potential. However, for no species is it known what components of the sperm cause the opening of the egg plasma membrane channels. Protein isolated from sperm acrosomal granules of the marine worm Urechis caused electrical responses in oocytes with the same form, amplitude, and ion dependence as the fertilization potentials induced by living sperm. Sperm initiated fertilization potentials in oocytes when sperm-oocyte fusion, but not binding, was inhibited by clamping oocyte membrane potentials to positive values. Acrosomal protein also initiated electrical responses in clamped oocytes. These results support the hypothesis that it is the sperm acrosomal protein that opens ion channels in the oocyte membrane.

Acrosome↗
PubMed1986

Advantages of picrate fixation for staining polypeptides in polyacrylamide gels.

When acetic acid-urea polyacrylamide gels with or without Triton X-100 were immersed in 0.1 M Na picrate, pH 7, to which 1/4 vol Coomassie blue staining solution (0.2% in 45% methanol, 10% acetic acid, 45% water) was added, proteins stained rapidly (within a few minutes in gels without Triton and within an hour in gels with Triton) with little or no background staining. Thus protein bands could be observed in a single step with no destaining. The picrate-Coomassie blue method fixed and stained a small peptide (bradykinin, nine amino acids) that was not observed in gels stained with fast green, silver, or Coomassie blue following fixation in 50% trichloroacetic acid. The picrate-Coomassie blue method gave high-contrast bands suitable for densitometry. Gels containing sodium dodecyl sulfate were also stained by the picrate-Coomassie blue method if they were first washed briefly (1 h) in 45% methanol, 10% acetic acid, 45% water, presumably to remove the detergent. These gels also stained rapidly with almost no background.

Acrylic Resins↗