Molecular and Functional Characterisation of Sea Urchin ADP-ribosyl Cyclases

身体的所有细胞都被一层膜与它们周围的环境物理地隔开。为了使细胞对血液中通常不能穿过细胞膜的因子（如激素）作出反应，细胞内部在与细胞接触刺激时产生的特殊“信使”分子被使用。这些信使中的两种叫做cADPR和NAADP，是由一个酶家族/ adp核糖基环化酶产生的。cADPR和NAADP一旦生成，就会引起细胞内钙浓度的大幅增加，这反过来对许多过程都很重要，包括神经功能。了解这些酶是如何工作的对于了解细胞是如何工作的很重要。在这项研究中，我们将确定海胆中adp -核糖素环化酶基因的DNA序列，这是一个已经得到充分研究的实验系统。有了这些信息，我们就可以大量生产每种蛋白质，研究它们的特性，并确定它们在鸡蛋中的位置。然后，我们将研究当卵子被精子激活时，这些酶是如何变化的，并确定阻断这些酶对胚胎发育的影响。这项研究将为这些至关重要的蛋白质提供新的信息。

All cells of the body are physically separated from their surrounding environment by a membrane. In order for cells to respond to factors in the blood (such as hormones) which normally can not pass through the membrane, special 'messenger' molecules are used that are generated inside the cell upon contact of the stimulus with the cell. Two of these messengers called cADPR and NAADP are produced by a single family of enzymes / the ADP-ribosyl cyclases. Once made, cADPR and NAADP cause large increases in the concentration of calcium within the cell which in turn are important for many processes including for example the nerve function. Understanding how these enzymes work then is important to understand how cells work. In this study we will determine the DNA sequences of the genes for ADP-ribosyl cyclases in the sea urchin a well-studied experimental system. Having this information will allow us to produce large quantities of each protein to study their properties and determine their location within eggs. We will then study how these enzymes change when eggs are activated by sperm and determine what impact blocking these enzymes has on how the embryo develops. This study should provide new information on these critically important proteins.