Protein tyrosine phosphorylation during sea urchin fertilization: microtubule dynamics require tyrosine kinase activity.

Protein tyrosine phosphorylation plays an important role in cell growth, mitosis, and tumorigenesis. It has also been implicated in meiotic maturation and fertilization. We have used anti-phosphotyrosine immunofluorescence and immunoblotting to identify sperm and egg proteins which are phosphorylated on tyrosine residues prior to and during sea urchin fertilization. On immunoblots of sperm proteins, the monoclonal anti-phosphotyrosine antibody detected three major proteins with molecular weights of 44, 82, and 100 kD, and six minor bands at 46, 48, 70, 76, 95, and 150 kD. These phosphotyrosyl proteins were localized to the sperm acrosomal and centriolar fossae. In contrast, staining was found globally in unfertilized eggs, and the antibody recognized two major egg phosphotyrosyl proteins of molecular weights 42 and 50 kD, and five minor bands at 40, 90, 116, 130, and 150 kD. While immunofluorescent staining remained throughout the fertilized egg cytoplasm, there were dynamic changes in the staining intensity of single bands. The 90 kD immunoreactive band increased in intensity, and the 40 and 42 kD bands disappeared by 15 min after fertilization. Loss of the 40 and 42 kD bands was due to dephosphorylation by okadaic acid-sensitive phosphatase(s). The 50 kD immunoreactive protein was unchanged up to the 8-cell stage and was still present in blastulae, indicating its importance throughout fertilization and early development. Alterations in the pattern of phosphotyrosine-containing proteins during fertilization did not depend on nascent proteins and could not be completely mimicked by increasing intracellular calcium, pH, and protein kinase C activity alone. Since changes in the fertilization pattern of phosphotyrosyl proteins occurred during formation of the sperm aster and mitotic spindle, we analyzed the role of protein tyrosine kinase activity in these processes using the tyrosine kinase specific inhibitor, erbstatin. Both the sperm aster and mitotic spindle were disrupted, indicating an involvement of tyrosine phosphorylation in these processes during interphase and mitosis. We conclude that the changes in phosphotyrosyl proteins play an important role in fertilization and early development of sea urchin eggs. Control of microtubule assembly into the sperm aster and mitotic spindle of the first cell cycle are examples of such roles.