Protein Kinases Involved in the Meiotic Maturation and Fertilization of Oocyte

FAN Heng-Yu,TONG Chao,CHEN Da-Yuan,SUN Qing-Yuan^*
( State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Biology Institute of Zoology, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100080, China )

Abstract    The meiosis and fertilization of vertebrate oocyte are extensively regulated by various protein kinases.Recently, a great progress has been achieved in the studies on the molecular mechanisms of oocyte maturation, activation and fertilization. MPF and MAPK were found to be the key modulators of the cell cycle in oocyte, whose activation and inactivation result in the entry, arrest and exit of meiosis. Many protein kinases influence the meiosis by stimulating or inhibiting the activity of MPF and MAPK. Polo-like kinase activates MPF, whereasMos initiates oocyte maturation and sustains MII arrest by activating MAPK. CaMK II down-regulates the MPF level through an ubiquitin-dependent pathway, which leads to the breakthrough of M phase arrest. Furthermore, p90^rsk is involved in themeiosis regulation as a downstream regulator of MAPK; protein kinase C inducescortical granule exocytosis after fertilization and inhibits MAPK activity during maturation; and tyrosine protein kinase family members modulate the calcium release induced by fertilization. The cooperation of these protein kinases is essential to the development and fertilization of the oocyte.
Key words    oocyte; meiosis; protein kinase; fertilization

^*Corresponding author: Tel, 86-10-62563923; Fax, 86-10-62565689; e-mail, [email protected]