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Oocyte signals derived from polyunsaturated fatty acids control sperm recruitment in vivo

Nature Cell Biology volume 8, pages 1143–1148 (2006)Cite this article

Abstract

A fundamental question in animal development is how motile cells find their correct target destinations. During mating in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, males inject sperm through the hermaphrodite vulva into the uterus. Amoeboid sperm crawl around fertilized eggs to the spermatheca – a convoluted tube where fertilization occurs1,2. Here, we show that polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), the precursors of eicosanoid signalling molecules, function in oocytes to control directional sperm motility within the uterus. PUFAs are transported from the intestine, the site of fat metabolism, to the oocytes yolk, which is a lipoprotein complex. Loss of the RME-2 low-density lipoprotein (LDL) receptor, which mediates yolk endocytosis3 and fatty acid transport into oocytes, causes severe defects in sperm targeting. We used an RNAi screen to identify lipid regulators required for directional sperm motility. Our results support the hypothesis that PUFAs function in oocytes as precursors of signals that control sperm recruitment to the spermatheca. A common property of PUFAs in mammals and C. elegans is that these fats control local recruitment of motile cells to their target tissues.

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Figure 1: Sperm migration in the hermaphrodite reproductive tract.
Figure 2: Fatty acid transport and yolk analysis.

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Acknowledgements

We thank D. Greenstein, G. Marques and R. Steele for comments on the manuscript. Some strains were provided by the Caenorhabditis Genetics Center, which is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Financial support came from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), Department of Cell Biology, including Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HMMI) start-up funds delegated by UAB, UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center Junior Faculty Development and American Cancer Society Institutional Research (ACSIRG) grants to M.A.M., and an NIH grant (RO1DK074114) to J.L.W.

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  1. Department of Cell Biology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA

    Homare M. Kubagawa, Chad Corrigan, Johnathan W. Edmonds, Elizabeth Sztul & Michael A. Miller

  2. Institute of Biological Chemistry, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164, USA

    Jennifer L. Watts & John Browse

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  1. Homare M. Kubagawa
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Correspondence to Michael A. Miller.

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Kubagawa, H., Watts, J., Corrigan, C. et al. Oocyte signals derived from polyunsaturated fatty acids control sperm recruitment in vivo. Nat Cell Biol 8, 1143–1148 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncb1476

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