ULTRASTRUCTURAL ANALYSIS OF THE ACROSOME REACTION IN A POPULATION OF SINGLE GUINEA-PIG SPERM

Cauda epididymal guinea pig spermatozoa are arranged in rouleaux, with the sperm heads stacked one on top of the other; the plasma membranes over the apical segment of the acrosomes of adjacent sperm are linked and form non-fusigenic "junctional" zones. A complex structural and temporal sequence of membrane fusions occurs during the acrosome reaction of guinea pig sperm in rouleaux. In this study, we have devised a procedure for dispersing the rouleaux and isolating a population of single, motile guinea pig sperm, and have investigated the ultrastructural features of the acrosome reaction in single sperm to determine if the pattern of membrane fusions is different from sperm in rouleaux. The rouleaux were dispersed using trypsin, and damaged cells were removed by passing the sperm suspension through a glass bead column; a population of 70-90% motile, acrosome-intact, single sperm was obtained. Sperm were then induced to undergo lysolecithin-mediated, "synchronous" acrosome reactions, and processed for transmission electron microscopy. The acrosome reaction involved a complex sequence of membrane fusions between the plasma membrane (PM) and outer acrosomal membrane (OAM). On the convex surface of the apical segment, sheets of hybrid membrane and parallel arrays of hybrid membrane tubules formed; filaments were associated with the luminal surface of the residual OAM in these regions. Hybrid membrane vesicles were produced on the concave surface of the apical segment, but fusion was delayed relative to the convex surface. In the principal segment, branching arrays of hybrid membrane tubules formed and later vesiculated. Hence, in single guinea pig sperm, the sequence of membrane fusions is similar to sperm in rouleaux except that fusion occurs in regions of the apical segment which form the non-fusigenic PM "junctional" zones in rouleaux. The results suggest that, regardless of whether the acrosome reaction in vivo occurs before or after rouleaux dispersion, it will involve a complex sequence of membrane fusions which is determined by the structural properties of the OAM and PM.