Cyclin–CDK Complexes are Key Controllers of Capacitation-Dependent Actin Dynamics in Mammalian Spermatozoa

International Journal of Molecular Sciences

Barbara Barboni¹  Marina Ramal-Sanchez¹  Nicola Bernabò¹  Luca Valbonetti¹  Juliana Machado-Simoes¹  Giulia Capacchietti¹  Angela Taraschi²  Alessandra Ordinelli² 

[1] Faculty of Bioscience and Technology for Food, Agriculture and Environment, University of Teramo, Via Renato Balzarini 1, 64100 Teramo, Italy;Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell’Abruzzo e del Molise “G. Caporale”, Via Campo Boario 1, 64100 Teramo, Italy;

关键词: spermatozoa;    cyclin–CDK complexes;    actin dynamics;    capacitation;    acrosome reaction;    biological network;    computational model;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijms20174236

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Mammalian spermatozoa are infertile immediately after ejaculation and need to undergo a functional maturation process to acquire the competence to fertilize the female egg. During this process, called capacitation, the actin cytoskeleton dramatically changes its organization. First, actin fibers polymerize, forming a network over the anterior part of the sperm cells head, and then it rapidly depolymerizes and disappears during the exocytosis of the acrosome content (the acrosome reaction (AR)). Here, we developed a computational model representing the actin dynamics (AD) process on mature spermatozoa. In particular, we represented all the molecular events known to be involved in AD as a network of nodes linked by edges (the interactions). After the network enrichment, using an online resource (STRING), we carried out the statistical analysis on its topology, identifying the controllers of the system and validating them in an experiment of targeted versus random attack to the network. Interestingly, among them, we found that cyclin-dependent kinase (cyclin−CDK) complexes are acting as stronger controllers. This finding is of great interest since it suggests the key role that cyclin−CDK complexes could play in controlling AD during sperm capacitation, leading us to propose a new and interesting non-genomic role for these molecules.

【 授权许可】

Unknown