Abstract
Mammalian oocytes undergo major changes in zinc content and localization to be fertilized, the most striking being the rapid exocytosis of over 10 billion zinc ions in what are known as zinc sparks. Here, we report that fertilization of amphibian Xenopus laevis eggs also initiates a zinc spark that progresses across the cell surface in coordination with dynamic calcium waves. This zinc exocytosis is accompanied by a newly recognized loss of intracellular manganese. Synchrotron-based X-ray fluorescence and analytical electron microscopy reveal that zinc and manganese are sequestered in a system of cortical granules that are abundant at the animal pole. Through electron–nuclear double-resonance studies, we rule out Mn2+ complexation with phosphate or nitrogenous ligands in intact eggs, but the data are consistent with a carboxylate coordination environment. Our observations suggest that zinc and manganese fluxes are a conserved feature of fertilization in vertebrates and that they function as part of a physiological block to polyspermy. [Figure not available: see fulltext.]
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 683-691 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Nature chemistry |
| Volume | 13 |
| Issue number | 7 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jul 2021 |
Funding
This research is supported by NIH grants R01GM115848 (T.V.O. and T.K.W.), R01GM038784 and P41GM181350 (T.V.O.) and R01GM111097 (B.M.H.). J.F.S. was supported by The Cellular and Molecular Basis of Disease Training Program at Northwestern University (NIH T32GM008061), N.J.Z. was supported by both LDRD funding no. 2017-153-N0 and the Photon Science Division at Argonne National Laboratory. X-ray fluorescence microscopy was performed at the Advanced Photon Source (APS), while analytical electron microscopy was performed using the ANL PicoProbe as well as AEM resources in the Center for Nanoscale Materials (CNM), both of which are Office of Science user facilities at Argonne National Laboratory. Use of the APS and CNM was supported by the US Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, under contract no. DE-AC02-06CH11357. This work made use of the BioCryo facility of Northwestern University\u2019s NUANCE Center, which has received support from the Soft and Hybrid Nanotechnology Experimental (SHyNE) Resource (NSF ECCS-1542205), the MRSEC programme (NSF DMR-1720139) at the Materials Research Center, the International Institute for Nanotechnology (IIN) and the State of Illinois. Microscopy was performed at the Biological Imaging Facility at Northwestern University (RRID: SCR_017767), supported by the Chemistry for Life Processes Institute, the NU Office for Research and the Department of Molecular Biosciences. Elemental analysis was performed at the Northwestern University Quantitative Bio-element Imaging Center supported by the Office of the Director, National Institutes of Health, via NIH grants S10OD026786 and S10OD020118. We thank R. Woodruff and L. Gross for the initial discovery of zinc fluxes in frog eggs, J. Hornick and S. Garwin for assistance with imaging, K. MacRenaris, O. Ali and R. Sponenburg for assistance with ICP-MS and P. Huber for assistance with Xenopus experiments.
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Chemistry
- General Chemical Engineering