pH and the Crawling of Nematode Sperm

Tissue formation, wound healing, immunesurve illance and most importantly, inhibition of cancer andtumor metastasis is of prime interest. In order to study translocation within these intriguing cells, we focus on cellularcrawling motility in sperm from the nematode Caenorhabditiselegans, which is similar to the crawling motility of many other eukaryotic cells. C. elegans spermatozoa utilize a cytoskeleton composed of Major Sperm Protein (MSP) to produce the forcenecessary for cellular movement. A complete understanding ofthe mechanics of this process and how it is regulated is stilllacking. In the sperm from Ascaris suum, another nematode, internal pH has been suggested as a regulator of motility. Thefocus of this study is to determine the role of pH in regulating motility in C. elegans sperm and to determine how the cell maintains its internal pH. Using ratiometric imaging we showthat C. elegans sperm maintain a substantial pH gradient between the front and back of the cell. A mathematical model suggests how the cell maintains this gradient.