It was then crucial to assess whether gamete fusion takes place
in conditions where the sperm stays in periphery of the egg cell,
which nevertheless undergoes activation-like events. Occasionally,
experiments in which no Ca2+ influx was detected, but in which
there was a [Ca2+]Cyt elevation, showed that the sperm, which was
not previously loaded with the fluorescent dye Fluo-3 (see
Methods), was transiently labelled, probably by diffusion of dye
from the egg cell. To test whether membrane fusion does take place
in presence of 10 μM GdCl3, a sperm cell was adhered to an egg cell
with an R18-labelled membrane8. When R18 did not diffuse from
the egg cell to the sperm, then no cell wall could be detected 3 h
after gamete adhesion (n = 6). When, however, R18 diffused from
the egg cell to the sperm, still visible in the periphery, then a cell
wall would be detected around the egg cell (n = 3, Fig. 3). Although
these experiments were done in parallel, without direct confirmation
of fluxes and [Ca2+]Cyt, they strongly suggest that in the presence
of 10 μM GdCl3, although sperm incorporation is inhibited
along with the onset of a global Ca2+ influx, cytosolic and membrane
continuity between gametes may be established. In some cases this seems sufficient to trigger a rise in [Ca2+]Cyt and egg activation.
It thus seems that although an increase in [Ca2+]Cyt is necessary
and sufficient for activation, a global Ca2+ influx is not. The
Ca2+ influx may, however, be associated with sperm incorporation
and subsequent karyogamy.
As the Ca2+-vibrating probe allows precise spatial analysis of
Ca2+ fluxes, we made a careful scan of the membrane on adhered
gametes in the presence of 10 μM GdCl3. Ca2+ fluxes were recorded
at different positions of the probe relative to the sperm.When a cell
wall was detected (but sperm incorporation was inhibited), a global
Ca2+ influx was not recorded but a localized Ca2+ influx of about
1.0 pmol cm–2 s–1 was detected close to the sperm, in a region that
did not exceed 5 μm diameter around the sperm position (n = 2;
Fig. 4). Consequently, in the presence of 10 μM GdCl3, a localized
Ca2+ influx seems to persist close to the fusion site, which, in the
absence of Gd3+ becomes the focal point for the spread of the Ca2+
influx wavefront5. Two mechanisms, differing in their Gd3+ sensitivity
and their localization, could thus be involved in the entry of Ca2+ after gamete fusion.