Cloning and sequence analysis of Bufo arenarum oviductin cDNA and detection of its orthologous gene expression in the mouse female reproductive tract

Follicle cell trypsin-like protease HrOvochymase: Its cDNA cloning, localization, and involvement in the late stage of oogenesis in the ascidian Halocynthia roretzi

We previously reported that the sperm trypsin-like protease HrAcrosin and its precursor HrProacrosin participate in fertilization of the ascidian Halocynthia roretzi. The HrProacrosin gene is annotated in the H. roretzi genome database as Harore.CG.MTP2014.S89.g15383; our previously reported sequence of HrProacrosin gene appeared to include four nucleotides inserted near the 3'-end of HrProacrosin, resulting in a frame-shift mutation and a premature termination codon. The gene architecture of HrProacrosin and Harore.CG.MTP2014.S89.g15383 resembles that of Xenopus laevis ovochymase-1/OVCH1 and ovochymase-2/OVCH2, which encode egg extracellular polyproteases. Considering these new observations, we evaluated the cDNA cloning, expression, localization, and function of Harore.CG.MTP2014.S89.g15383, herein designated as HrOvochymase/HrOVCH. We found that HrOVCH cDNA consists of a single open reading frame of 1,575 amino acids, containing a signal peptide, three trypsin-like protease domains, and six CUB domains. HrOVCH was transcribed by the testis and ovary, but the majority of protein exists in ovarian follicle cells surrounding eggs. An anti-HrOVCH antibody inhibited elevation of the vitelline coat at a late stage of oogenesis, during the period when self-sterility is acquired. As trypsin inhibitors are reported to block the acquisition of self-sterility during oogenesis, whereas trypsin induces the acquisition of self-sterility and elevation of the vitelline coat in defolliculated ovarian eggs, we propose that HrOVCH may play a role in the acquisition of self-sterility by late-stage H. roretzi oocytes.

Participation of the 39-kDa glycoprotein (gp39) of the vitelline envelope of Bufo arenarum eggs in sperm-egg interaction

The acquisition of egg fertilizability in Bufo arenarum takes place during the oviductal transit and during this process the extracellular coelomic envelope (CE) of the eggs is converted into the vitelline envelope (VE). It has been stated that one of the necessary events leading to a fertilizable state is the proteolytic cleavage of CE glycoproteins in the oviductal pars recta by oviductin, a serine protease. Consequently, there is a marked increase in the relative quantity of glycoproteins with 39 (gp39) and 42 kDa (gp42) in the VE. In the present study, sperm-VE binding assays using heat-solubilized biotin-conjugated VE glycoproteins revealed that both gp39 and gp42 have sperm binding capacity. According to this result, our study was focused on gp39, a glycoprotein that we have previously reported as a homologue of mammalian ZPC. For this purpose, rabbit polyclonal antibodies against gp39 were generated at our laboratory. The specificity of the antibodies was confirmed with western blot of VE glycoproteins separated on SDS-PAGE. Immunohistochemical and immunoelectron studies showed gp39 distributed throughout the width of the VE. In addition, immunofluorescence assays probed that gp39 bound to the sperm head. Finally, as an approach to elucidate the possible involvement of gp39 in fertilization, inhibition assays showed that pretreatment of eggs with antibodies against gp39 generated a significant decrease in the fertilization rate. Therefore, our findings suggest that gp39, which is modified by oviductal action, participates as a VE glycoprotein ligand for sperm in Bufo arenarum fertilization.