Publication Date:
2022-05-26
Description:
© The Author(s), 2014. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Journal of Cell Biology 206 (2014): 541-557, doi:10.1083/jcb.201402027.
Description:
Guanylyl cyclases (GCs), which synthesize the messenger cyclic guanosine 3′,5′-monophosphate, control several sensory functions, such as phototransduction, chemosensation, and thermosensation, in many species from worms to mammals. The GC chemoreceptor in sea urchin sperm can decode chemoattractant concentrations with single-molecule sensitivity. The molecular and cellular underpinnings of such ultrasensitivity are not known for any eukaryotic chemoreceptor. In this paper, we show that an exquisitely high density of 3 × 105 GC chemoreceptors and subnanomolar ligand affinity provide a high ligand-capture efficacy and render sperm perfect absorbers. The GC activity is terminated within 150 ms by dephosphorylation steps of the receptor, which provides a means for precise control of the GC lifetime and which reduces “molecule noise.” Compared with other ultrasensitive sensory systems, the 10-fold signal amplification by the GC receptor is surprisingly low. The hallmarks of this signaling mechanism provide a blueprint for chemical sensing in small compartments, such as olfactory cilia, insect antennae, or even synaptic boutons.
Description:
This work was supported by the German Research Foundation and the Fonds der Chemischen Industrie.
Description:
2015-02-18
Repository Name:
Woods Hole Open Access Server
Type:
Article
Format:
video/mp4
Format:
application/pdf
