Fertilization in Sepia officinalis: the first mollusk sperm-attracting peptide.

TitleFertilization in Sepia officinalis: the first mollusk sperm-attracting peptide.
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2002
AuthorsZatylny-Gaudin, C, Marvin, L, Gagnon, J, Henry, J
JournalBiochem Biophys Res Commun
Volume296
Issue5
Pagination1186-93
Date Published2002 Sep 6
ISSN0006-291X
KeywordsAnimals, Biological Assay, Chemotaxis, Dose-Response Relationship, Drug, Female, Kinetics, Male, Models, Biological, Mollusca, Oligopeptides, Oocytes, Oviducts, Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization, Sperm Transport, Spermatozoa
Abstract

Egg mass extract was used to characterize regulatory peptides, involved in the successive steps of egg-laying of the cuttlefish Sepia officinalis. Among these peptides, a C-terminally amidated hexapeptide revealed a sperm-attracting activity. MALDI-TOF MS (matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry) and Edman degradation led to a peptide of m/z 596.6 and the following primary sequence: Pro-Ile-Asp-Pro-Gly-Val-CO(NH2). From concentrations as low as 10(-17)M, the PIDPGVamide was able to attract freshly dissected spermatozoa. Nano-ESI-Q-TOF MS (nano-electrospray ionization-quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry) analysis established the quantitative occurrence of this peptide in different egg structures. The PIDPGVamide appears to be synthesized in oocytes during vitellogenesis and released by the embedded oocytes in the external media during egg-laying to facilitate fertilization by increasing chances of gamete collision. This novel peptide called SepSAP for Sepia sperm attracting peptide is the first sperm-attracting peptide, identified in mollusks or even in protostomians.

Alternate JournalBiochem. Biophys. Res. Commun.
PubMed ID12207899