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The role of Src family kinases in egg activation

Tomashov-Matar Reut1, Levi Mattan, Tchetchik Dafna

  • 1Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Ramat-Aviv 69978, Tel-Aviv, Israel.

Developmental Biology
|October 24, 2007
PubMed

Insights

Src family kinases (SFKs) are involved in mammalian egg activation, specifically in resuming meiosis II (RMII) but not in the initial calcium increase. SFKs appear to act downstream of calcium signaling, impacting M-phase promoting factor (MPF).

Area of Science:

  • Reproductive Biology
  • Cell Signaling
  • Molecular Biology

Background:

  • Src family kinases (SFKs) are implicated in early egg activation events like calcium increase and meiotic resumption.
  • Their precise role in mammalian egg activation remains incompletely understood.
  • Previous studies in non-mammalian species suggest SFKs are crucial for calcium signaling.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the role of SFKs in calcium increase and meiotic resumption in rat eggs.
  • To determine if SFKs are involved in the signaling pathway of mammalian egg activation.

Main Methods:

  • Microinjection of active Fyn or c-Yes mRNA into ovulated rat eggs.
  • Treatment with a specific SFKs inhibitor (SU6656) or dominant-negative (DN) Fyn/c-Yes.
  • Assessment of calcium oscillations and meiotic resumption (RMII) in fertilized and parthenogenetically activated eggs.
  • Analysis of cyclin B1 degradation levels.

Main Results:

  • Microinjection of active Fyn or c-Yes triggered RMII without calcium increase.
  • SFKs inhibition or dominant-negative forms modulated rather than blocked calcium oscillations.
  • Inhibiting SFKs blocked RMII and reduced cyclin B1 degradation.
  • SFKs are not essential for initiating calcium increase but are involved in RMII.

Conclusions:

  • SFKs play a role in mammalian egg activation, specifically in meiotic resumption (RMII).
  • SFKs do not appear to mediate the initial calcium increase during egg activation.
  • SFKs likely act downstream of calcium signaling, potentially at the level of M-phase promoting factor (MPF).

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