Abstract
Fertilization triggers rapid changes in intracellular free calcium that serve to activate multiple signaling events critical to the initiation of successful development. Among the pathways downstream of the fertilization-induced calcium transient is the calcium-calmodulin dependent protein tyrosine kinase PTK2b or PYK2 kinase. PTK2b plays an important role in fertilization of the zebrafish oocyte and the objective of the present study was to establish whether PTK2b also functions in mammalian fertilization. PTK2b was activated during the first few hours after fertilization of the mouse oocyte during the period when anaphase resumption was underway and prior to the pronuclear stage. Suppression of PTK2b kinase activity in oocytes blocked sperm incorporation and egg activation although sperm-oocyte binding was not affected. Oocytes that failed to incorporate sperm after inhibitor treatment showed no evidence of a calcium transient and no evidence of anaphase resumption suggesting that egg activation did not occur. The results indicate that PTK2b functions during the sperm-egg fusion process or during the physical incorporation of sperm into the egg cytoplasm and is therefore critical for successful development.