Differential Effects of the Egg Jelly Molecules FSG and SAP-I on Elevation of Intracellular Ca

We examined the effects of two egg jelly components, a fucose sulfate glycoconjugate (FSG) and sperm-activating peptide I (SAP-I: Gly-Phe-Asp-Leu-Asn-Gly-Gly-Gly-Val-Gly), on the intracellular pH (pHi ) and Ca2+ ([Ca2+ ]i ) of spermatozoa of the sea urchin Hemicentrotus pulcherrimus. FSG and/or SAP-I induced elevations of [Ca2+ ]; and pHi in the spermatozoa at pH 8.0. At pH 8.0, a second addition of FSG did not induced further elevation of the [Ca2+ ]i or pHi of spermatozoa treated with FSG, but addition or FSG after SAP-I or of SAP-I after FSG induced further increases of [Ca2+ ]i and pHi , At pH 6.6, FSG and/or SAP-I did not induce significant elevation of the [Ca2+ ]i , although SAP-I elevated the pHi , its half-maximal effective concentration being 10 to 100 pM. At pH 8.0, tetraethyl-ammonium, a voltage-sensitive K+ -channel blocker, inhibited induction of the acrosome reaction and elevations of [Ca2+ ]i and pHi by FSG, but did not affect those by SAP-I. These results suggest that FSG and SAP-I activate different Ca2+ and H+ transport systems.