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Cell Signaling in Ascidian Sperm: Upstream and Downstream of Internal Calcium Release

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The Biology of Ascidians
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Summary

In ascidians, sperm activation is characterized by the morphologically distinctive process of mitochondrial translocation. This process is known to be driven by actin:myosin interactions. We have studied mitochondrial translocation in sperm cells of Ascidia ceratodes and found it to be dependent on internal calcium release as well as external calcium entry. Here we show that (1) internal release is dependent upon the action of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate produced by G protein-dependent activation of a phospholipase Cβ, and (2) the rise in internal calcium ion concentration that results is linked to redistribution of protein kinase C from cytosolic sites to membranous sites where it triggers the signal transduction steps leading to mitochondrial translocation.

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Correspondence to Robert A. Koch .

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© 2001 Springer Japan

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Koch, R.A., Allen, K., Kim, J., Lotfizadeh, A. (2001). Cell Signaling in Ascidian Sperm: Upstream and Downstream of Internal Calcium Release. In: Sawada, H., Yokosawa, H., Lambert, C.C. (eds) The Biology of Ascidians. Springer, Tokyo. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-66982-1_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-66982-1_6

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Tokyo

  • Print ISBN: 978-4-431-66984-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-4-431-66982-1

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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