Membranes of Mammalian Sperm and Capacitation

1976 ◽  
Vol 34 ◽  
pp. 12-13
Author(s):  
M. Gordon
Keyword(s):  
Cell Membrane ◽  
Outer Membrane ◽  
Genital Tract ◽  
Acrosome Reaction ◽  
Female Genital Tract ◽  
Cytochemical Analysis ◽  
Mammalian Sperm ◽  
Female Genital

Capacitation prepares the mammalian sperm for interaction with the ovum. It occurs in the female genital tract and involves a change in the properties of the membrane over the head. The head membranes are morphologically specialized in different regions. The portion overlying the acrosome is loose and not linked to a cytoplasmic substratum (Fig. 1). It is differentiated from the tight membrane apposed to the post acrosomal cap (PAC) (1). Following capacitation, the periacrosomal segment fuses with the outer membrane of the acrosome allowing escape of the acrosomal contents, the “acrosome reaction”. The fertilizing sperm contacts the vitellus at the PAC. Thus the outer membrane is separated into a portion concerned with the loss of the acrosome and another with ovum contact. The outer membrane of the acrosome is distinguished from the inner since it participates in the acrosome reaction. Cytochemical analysis of the cell membrane supports the concept that the stimulus for capacitation is a change in the properties of the plasmalemma induced by fluids of the female tract.

Thermotaxis of mammalian sperm cells: A potential navigation mechanism in the female genital tract

2003 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 149-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anat Bahat ◽  
Ilan Tur-Kaspa ◽  
Anna Gakamsky ◽  
Laura C. Giojalas ◽  
Haim Breitbart ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genital Tract ◽  
Female Genital Tract ◽  
Sperm Cells ◽  
Mammalian Sperm ◽  
Female Genital

Diagnostic significance of sperm-zona pellucida interaction

1992 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergio Oehninger
Keyword(s):  
Zona Pellucida ◽  
Genital Tract ◽  
Acrosome Reaction ◽  
Female Genital Tract ◽  
Critical Event ◽  
Sperm Cells ◽  
Diagnostic Significance ◽  
Sequence Of Events ◽  
Female Genital

Spermatozoa binding to the zona pellucida is an early, critical event leading to fertilization and early pre-embryo development. Fertilization involves a complex and orderly sequence of events that is completed at syngamy, which is defined as the union of the two sets of haploid chromosomes to form a new diploid fertilized ovum (zygote). In order to be able to fertilize an oocyte, spermatozoa need to undergo a process called ‘capacitation’, which is usually defined as a series of changes that renders the sperm cells capable of undergoing the acrosome reaction. This process that naturally occurs within the female genital tract is possible under in vitro conditions. However, capacitation is not the only process spermatozoa must undergo to fertilize the oocytes successfully. To fertilize an oocyte, spermatozoa must also be at least highly motile, as well as being capable of undergoing the acrosome reaction timely, penetrating through the oocyte investments and fusing with the oocyte plasma membrane properly.

XIV.—Studies on Reproduction in the Albino Mouse. II. Contributions on the Maturation of the Sperm Cells

1940 ◽  
Vol 59 ◽  
pp. 145-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hugo Merton
Keyword(s):  
Genital Tract ◽  
Vas Deferens ◽  
Female Genital Tract ◽  
Morphological Characters ◽  
Sperm Cells ◽  
Physiological Salt Solution ◽  
Mammalian Sperm ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Slow Passage ◽  
Female Genital

The morphological characters of mammalian sperm cells taken from the ductuli efferentes differ only slightly from the sperm derived from the vas deferens. However, it is known that spermatozoa from the caput epididymis, when kept in physiological salt solution, quickly become immotile, whereas those from the cauda epididymis retain their motility for a long time (Moore, 1928). During the slow passage through the epididymis the spermatozoa undergo a physiological process of maturation, which is said to occur under the influence of the epithelium of the epididymis and to result in a lesser susceptibility on the part of the spermatozoa to extraneous influences (Braus and Redenz, 1924; Redenz, 1926; and Lanz, 1929). Other authors maintain that this maturation of the spermatozoon is not conditioned by environmental influences (Young, 1931). In any case the spermatozoa achieve full functional ability only after they have reached the cauda epididymis and the vas deferens. These are the spermatozoa which enter the female genital tract at copulation, and thus it follows that spermatozoa for artificial insemination in the mouse must be taken from the vas deferens and cauda epididymis.

Mammalian sperm molecules that are potentially important in interaction with female genital tract and egg vestments

Zygote ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daulat R.P. Tulsiani ◽  
Aida Abou-Haila
Keyword(s):  
Plasma Membrane ◽  
Genital Tract ◽  
Acrosome Reaction ◽  
Female Genital Tract ◽  
Signal Transduction Pathway ◽  
Membrane Receptors ◽  
Ligand Interaction ◽  
Molecular Events ◽  
Species Specific ◽  
Female Genital

Fertilisation is a highly programmed process by which two radically different cells, sperm and egg, unite to form a zygote, a cell with somatic chromosome numbers. Development of the zygote begins immediately after sperm and egg haploid pronuclei come together, pooling their chromosomes to form a single diploid nucleus with the parental genes. Mammalian fertilisation is the net result of a complex set of molecular events which allow the capacitated spermatozoa to recognise and bind to the egg's extracellular coat, the zona pellucida (ZP), undergo the acrosome reaction, and fuse with the egg plasma membrane. Sperm-zona (egg) interaction leading to fertilisation is a species-specific carbohydrate-mediated event which depends on glycan-recognising proteins (glycosyltransferases/glycosidases/lectin-like molecules) on sperm plasma membrane (receptors) and their complementary glycan units (ligands) on ZP. The receptor-ligand interaction event initiates a signal transduction pathway resulting in the exocytosis of acrosomal contents. The hydrolytic action of the sperm glycohydrolases and proteases released at the site of sperm-egg interaction, along with the enhanced thrust generated by the hyperactivated beat pattern of the bound spermatozoon, are important factors regulating the penetration of egg investments. This review focuses on sperm molecules believed to be important for the interaction with the female genital tract, passage through cumulus oophorus and attachment to ZP, induction of the acrosome reaction, secondary binding events, and passage through the ZP. An understanding of the expression and modifications of molecules thought to be important in multiple events leading to fertilisation will allow new strategies to block these modifications and alter sperm function.

scholarly journals Cyclic Nucleotide-Specific Optogenetics Highlights Compartmentalization of the Sperm Flagellum into cAMP Microdomains

Cells ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (7) ◽  
pp. 648 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana N. Raju ◽  
Jan N. Hansen ◽  
Sebastian Rassmann ◽  
Birthe Stüven ◽  
Jan F. Jikeli ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genital Tract ◽  
Physiological Function ◽  
Female Genital Tract ◽  
Cyclic Adenosine Monophosphate ◽  
Adenosine Monophosphate ◽  
Sperm Capacitation ◽  
Pharmacological Interventions ◽  
Sperm Flagellum ◽  
Mammalian Sperm ◽  
Female Genital

Inside the female genital tract, mammalian sperm undergo a maturation process called capacitation, which primes the sperm to navigate across the oviduct and fertilize the egg. Sperm capacitation and motility are controlled by 3′,5′-cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP). Here, we show that optogenetics, the control of cellular signaling by genetically encoded light-activated proteins, allows to manipulate cAMP dynamics in sperm flagella and, thereby, sperm capacitation and motility by light. To this end, we used sperm that express the light-activated phosphodiesterase LAPD or the photo-activated adenylate cyclase bPAC. The control of cAMP by LAPD or bPAC combined with pharmacological interventions provides spatiotemporal precision and allows to probe the physiological function of cAMP compartmentalization in mammalian sperm.

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