The calcium-mobilizing messenger nicotinic acid adenine dinucleotide phosphate participates in sperm activation by mediating the acrosome reaction.

Before a sperm can fertilize an egg it must undergo a final activation step induced by the egg termed the acrosome reaction. During the acrosome reaction a lysosome-related organelle, the acrosome, fuses with the plasma membrane to release hydrolytic enzymes and expose an egg-binding protein. Because NAADP (nicotinic acid adenine dinucleotide phosphate) releases Ca(2+) from acidic lysosome-related organelles in other cell types, we investigated a possible role for NAADP in mediating the acrosome reaction.