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. 1997 Jul 15;325(Pt 2):411–416. doi: 10.1042/bj3250411

Activation of sea-urchin sperm motility is accompanied by an increase in the creatine kinase exchange flux.

F A Dorsten 1, M Wyss 1, T Wallimann 1, K Nicolay 1
PMCID: PMC1218575  PMID: 9230121

Abstract

The kinetics of the creatine kinase (CK) reaction were studied in suspensions of quiescent and active, intact sea-urchin spermatozoa in artificial seawater, using 31P-NMR magnetization transfer. In inactive sperm, no CK-mediated exchange flux was detected, whereas in activated motile sperm, the forward pseudo-first-order rate constant was 0.13+/-0.04 s-1 at 10 degrees C, corresponding to a steady-state CK flux of 3.1+/-0.5 mM.s-1. Intracellular pH shifted from 6.6+/-0.1 to 7.6+/-0.1 upon activation. The phosphocreatine (PCr)/ATP and PCr/Pi ratios were only marginally reduced in activated sperm, whereas the estimated cytosolic free ADP concentration increased remarkably from 9 microM in quiescent, to 114 microM in activated spermatozoa. The elevation of CK flux upon sperm activation is discussed in the light of the proposition that in sea-urchin spermatozoa, which are fuelled entirely by oxidative phosphorylation, high-energy phosphate transport is mediated by a 'CK/PCr shuttle'.

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Selected References

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