Further Studies on the Involvement of Protein Kinase C in Human Sperm Flagellar Motility

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Abstract
Addition of the phorbol ester 12-O-tetradecanoyl phorbol-13-acetate (TPA) or the membrane-permeable diacylglycerol analog, 1-oleoyl-2-acetylglycerol to human sperm resulted in increased motility. The biologically inactive 4.alpha.-phorbol 12,13 didecanoate had no effect on flagellar motility. Basal motility was markedly reduced in the absence of Ca2+ in the incubation medium, but TPA-induced sperm motility persisted even in the absence of Ca2+. Sperm motility was also enhanced by the Ca2+ ionophore ionomycin in a Ca2+-dependent, protein kinase c (PKC)-independent fashion. Although all stimulants examined here reached maximal responses at about 15 min of incubation, nevertheless whereas the effect of TPA and 1-oleoyl-2-acetylglycerol declined at 60 min of incubation, that of ionomycin still persisted. Human sperm PKC activity is extremely low and represents only about 20% of the specific activity recovered from PC-12 and rat pituitary cells, respectively. Immunohistochemical analysis using various type-specific PKC antibodies revealed staining only in the equatorial segment and the principal piece of the tail. Thus, PKC is present in human ejaculated sperm and involved in flagellar motility.

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