A Drosophila protease cascade member, seminal metalloprotease-1, is activated stepwise by male factors and requires female factors for full activity.

ABSTRACT: Females and males of sexually reproducing animals must cooperate at the molecular and cellular level for fertilization to succeed, even though some aspects of reproductive molecular biology appear to involve antagonistic interactions. We previously reported the existence of a proteolytic cascade in Drosophila melanogaster seminal fluid that is initiated in the male and ends in the female. This proteolytic cascade, which processes at least two seminal fluid proteins (Sfps), is a useful model for understanding the regulation of Sfp activities, including proteolysis cascades in mammals. Here, we investigated the activation mechanism of the downstream protease in the cascade, the astacin-family metalloprotease Seminal metalloprotease-1 (Semp1, CG11864), focusing on the relative contribution of

SUBMITTER: Laflamme BA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3982676 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature