Fol. Biol. 2001, 47, 18-27
Changes in Immunocytochemical Localization of Cytoskeletal Proteins in Boar Spermatozoa after Acrosome Reaction Induced by Specific Cytoskeletal Inhibitors
Certain morphological changes such as rearrangement of cytoskeletal proteins of the mammalian spermatozoa are detectable during the AR. The type of changes differs according to the studied sperm species and follows the course of AR. Relocation of cytoskeletal structures was previously observed especially in the case of actin-, α-, γ-tubulin- and spectrin-containing structures. To prove these findings we used specific inhibitors of cytoskeletal proteins (eg. colcemide, cytochalasine B, nocodazole and vinblastine). It has been shown that the AR is influenced by cytoskeletal inhibitors, but the obtained results also document that cytoskeletal proteins actin, tubulin and spectrin play a significant role in the course of AR in vitro. Our results of confocal and electron microscopy also demonstrate visible changes of actin-, tubulin- and spectrin-containing structures after the AR. Our data indicate that specific cytoskeletal inhibitors influence the AR and they prove the role of cytoskeletal proteins in this process.
Keywords
spermatozoa, acrosome reaction, cytoskeleton, γ-tubulin, colcemide, cytochalasine B, nocodazole, vinblastine.
Funding
This work was supported by the grant No. 524/96/K162 from the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic, grant No. NJ 5851-3 from the Grant Agency of the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic and EUREKA 1985-NFDK-MOAB.
References
Copyright
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.