Black Tea High-Molecular-Weight Polyphenol Increases the Motility of Sea Urchin Sperm by Activating Mitochondrial Respiration

Ayako KIKUCHI; Kogiku SHIBA; Tetsuo OZAWA; Kentaro NAKANO; Kazuo INABA; Osamu NUMATA

doi:10.1271/bbb.120493

Food & Nutrition Science Notes

Black Tea High-Molecular-Weight Polyphenol Increases the Motility of Sea Urchin Sperm by Activating Mitochondrial Respiration

Ayako KIKUCHI, Kogiku SHIBA, Tetsuo OZAWA, Kentaro NAKANO, Kazuo INABA, Osamu NUMATA

Author information

Keywords: high-molecular-weight polyphenol, mitochondria, sperm motility, sea urchin, flagella

JOURNAL FREE ACCESS

2012 Volume 76 Issue 12 Pages 2321-2324

DOI https://doi.org/10.1271/bbb.120493

View "Advance Publication" version (December 7, 2012).

Details

Abstract

Mitochondria activation factor (MAF) is a high-molecular-weight polyphenol purified from black tea that activates mitochondrial respiration. It increased the mitochondrial membrane potential and motility of sea urchin sperm, by up to 8%, to the same extent as sperm-activating peptides (SAPs) secreted by the egg. Unlike SAPs, MAF had no effect on sperm swimming behavior, suggesting that the mechanism of sperm activation by MAF is different from that of SAPs.

Corresponding author

Register with J-STAGE for free!