Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 20, 2026
In Vivo Visualization of Calcium Transients during Fertilization and Early Development in C. elegans
Published on: July 12, 2024
Transgenic RNA interference reveals role for mouse sperm phospholipase Czeta in triggering Ca2+ oscillations during
Jason G Knott1, Manabu Kurokawa, Rafael A Fissore
1Center for Research on Reproduction and Women's Health, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA.
Abstract:
A sperm-specific phospholipase (PL) C, termed PLCzeta, is proposed to be the soluble sperm factor that induces Ca(2+) oscillations in mammalian eggs and, thus, initiates egg activation in vivo. We report that sperm from transgenic mice expressing short hairpin RNAs targeting PLCzeta mRNA have reduced amounts of PLCzeta protein. Sperm derived from these transgenic mice trigger patterns of Ca(2+) oscillations following fertilization in vitro that terminate prematurely. Consistent with the perturbation in patterns of Ca(2+) oscillations is the finding that mating of transgenic founder males to females results in lower rates of egg activation and no transgenic offspring. These data strongly suggest that PLCzeta is the physiological trigger of Ca(2+) oscillations required for activation of development.
