Sea urchin sperm cation-selective channels directly modulated by cAMP
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Updated: Oct 5, 2026

Recording Electrical Currents across the Plasma Membrane of Mammalian Sperm Cells
Published on: February 14, 2021
D Sánchez1, P Labarca, A Darszon
1Departamento de Genética y Fisiología Molecular, Instituto de Biotecnología, UNAM, Cuernavaca, Mexico.
Abstract:
Components of the sea urchin outer egg jelly layer such as speract drastically change second messenger levels and membrane permeability in sperm. Ion channels are deeply involved in the sperm-egg dialogue in sea urchin and other species. Yet, due to the small size of sperm, studies of ion channels and their modulation by second messengers in sperm are scarce. In this report we offer the first direct evidence that cation-selective channels upwardly regulated by cAMP operate in sea urchin sperm. Due to their poor selectivity among monovalent cations, channel activation in seawater could contribute to sperm membrane repolarization during the speract response.
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