Skip to main content
. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2007 Jun 15.
Published in final edited form as: Dev Biol. 2006 Dec 15;304(1):116–126. doi: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2006.12.023

Figure 6.

Figure 6

Role of Akt in the ZP3-evoked acrosome reaction. (A) Akt is present in the acrosomal crescent, posterior head, and flagellum (total Akt). Treatment with ZPse or ZP3 (5 and 20 ug/ml, respectively; data pooled for presentation) resulted in enhanced T308 phosphorylation of Akt. Paired phase contrast and fluorescence images (a,b; scale bar, 10 μm), and magnified fluorescence images (c; scale bar, 5 μm) are shown. Arrows facilitate orientation. Data are quantified in panel B. (B) Effects of ZPse and ZP3 total and active Akt. Pixel intensities were integrated across the sperm head (mean ± SD, triplicate experiments with >25 sperm observed/group in each experiment). ZP3/ZPse treatment produced a 2-3-fold increase in pT308-Akt and this was reduced to basal levels by 100 nM wortmannin. During these treatments there were no significant changes in the total Akt levels. (C) Akt inhibitors block the ZP3/ZPse-induced acrosome reaction. Dashed lines indicate acrosome reaction levels in buffer-treated controls and in ZP3/ZPse-treated samples. Data represent the mean (± SD) of 3-4 separate experiments (>200 sperm observed/group in each experiment).