Sperm capacitation

A process that is used to retrieve the spermatozoa in a sperm capacitation sample that have the greatest probability of fertilising. Sperm capacitation is a natural process that takes place in semen after it has been ejaculated and it is essential for fertilising the ovum. This process takes place when ejaculated semen comes into contact with the female genital tract, sperm capacitation.

Sperm capacitation refers to the physiological changes spermatozoa must undergo in order to have the ability to penetrate and fertilize an egg. This term was first coined in by Colin Russell Austin based on independent studies conducted by Austin and Min Chueh Chang and published in Since the initial reports and emergence of the term, the details of the process have been elucidated due to technological advancements. Recognition of the phenomenon was quite important to early in vitro fertilization experiments as well as to the fields of embryology and reproductive biology. These initial studies involved introducing sperm into the fallopian tubes of females of various animal species both hours before and immediately after ovulation. The experiments revealed that many more eggs were penetrated by sperm when the sperm was introduced hours before ovulation. Based on their initial findings, both Austin and Chang hypothesized that the sperm must need to go through some sort of physiological process in the female reproductive tract in order to have the capacity to penetrate the egg.

Sperm capacitation

Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology volume 17 , Article number: Cite this article. Metrics details. Capacitation involves physiological changes that spermatozoa must undergo in the female reproductive tract or in vitro to obtain the ability to bind, penetrate and fertilize the egg. Up to date, several methods have been developed to characterize this complex biological process. The goal of the presented study is to mutually compare several fluorescent techniques, check their ability to detect changes in molecular processes during the capacitation progress and determine their ability to predict the percentage of acrosome reacted AR sperm after the exposure to solubilized zona pellucida ZP. The capacitation process was analyzed using four fluorescent techniques: 1. All these methods were tested using fluorescent microscopy and flow cytometry. All selected methods are capable to detect the capacitation progress of boar sperm in vitro, but there are significant differences in their outcome when using fluorescent microscopy or flow cytometry experimental arrangements and subsequent statistical analysis KW-ANOVA. Our study compared four largely used methods used to characterize capacitation process, highlighted their differences and showed that all are able to detect capacitation progress, CTC and ACR. Capacitation is a physiological process that spermatozoa must experience in the female reproductive tract or in vitro to obtain the ability to bind, penetrate and fertilize the egg [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. The capacitation is based on many molecular processes including changes in the intracellular calcium concentration [ 4 ], rearrangement of the acrosomal matrix [ 5 ], rearrangement of the sperm cytoskeleton [ 6 , 7 , 8 ], phosphorylation of sperm proteins [ 9 , 10 ] and changes in the sperm plasma membrane [ 11 ]. Since the discovery of capacitation, several methods have been developed to characterize this complex biological process.

The changes required involve a series of sequential and parallel processes. Eggert-Kruse, W. These happen as soon as the sperm leave the epididymis.

Federal government websites often end in. The site is secure. In mammals, fertilization occurs via a comprehensive progression of events. Freshly ejaculated sperm have yet to acquire progressive motility or fertilization ability. They must first undergo a series of biochemical and physiological changes, collectively known as capacitation.

Sperm capacitation refers to the physiological changes spermatozoa must undergo in order to have the ability to penetrate and fertilize an egg. This term was first coined in by Colin Russell Austin based on independent studies conducted by Austin and Min Chueh Chang and published in Since the initial reports and emergence of the term, the details of the process have been elucidated due to technological advancements. Recognition of the phenomenon was quite important to early in vitro fertilization experiments as well as to the fields of embryology and reproductive biology. These initial studies involved introducing sperm into the fallopian tubes of females of various animal species both hours before and immediately after ovulation. The experiments revealed that many more eggs were penetrated by sperm when the sperm was introduced hours before ovulation. Based on their initial findings, both Austin and Chang hypothesized that the sperm must need to go through some sort of physiological process in the female reproductive tract in order to have the capacity to penetrate the egg. Austin later referred to this process as capacitation in an issue of Nature published on 23 August His original use of the term capacitation referred to any physiological processes undergone by sperm while in the female reproductive tract that allowed the sperm to then penetrate an egg.

Sperm capacitation

Federal government websites often end in. The site is secure. Mammalian sperm must undergo a series of biochemical and physiological modifications, collectively called capacitation, in the female reproductive tract prior to the acrosome reaction AR. In the present review, we summarize some of the signaling events that are involved in capacitation. The activation of PKA during capacitation depends mainly on cyclic adenosine monophosphate cAMP produced by the bicarbonate-dependent soluble adenylyl cyclase. This activation of PKA leads to an increase in actin polymerization, an essential process for the development of hyperactivated motility, which is necessary for successful fertilization. Actin polymerization is mediated by PIP 2 in two ways: first, PIP 2 acts as a cofactor for phospholipase D PLD activation, and second, as a molecule that binds and inhibits actin-severing proteins such as gelsolin.

Kjct

It has been identified that tyrosine phosphorylated proteins in human sperm, include ion channels, metabolic enzymes and structural proteins which are mainly located in the flagellum [ ]. Thirdly, most of research thus far has been conducted in vitro where the action of some agonists and antagonists remain quite different from that in the physiological environment in vivo. Int J Fertil. In , Weyand et al. Oxidative stress, DNA damage and the Y chromosome. Liu, J. Phosphoproteome analysis of capacitated human sperm. Jakubiczka, S. The functional role of beta subunits in oligomeric P-type ATPases. Changes to the composition of its membrane so that it is able to fuse with the ovum and carry out an acrosome reaction. Munuce MJ. Superoxide is also thought to participate in the direct activation of soluble adenylate cyclase, increasing the intracellular levels of cyclic adenosine monophosphate cAMP that, in turn, drive tyrosine kinase activity via a Src-dependent mechanism described in detail below Zhang and Zheng, ; Baker et al. During capacitation, removal of cholesterol from sperm plasma membrane by albumin occurs first. J Dairy Sci. Since it is difficult to retrospectively assess in utero nutrition, birth weight is commonly used as a proxy measurement for that of the nutritional conditions during fetal life.

Capacitation is the penultimate [1] step in the maturation of mammalian spermatozoa and is required to render them competent to fertilize an oocyte. In vivo , capacitation occurs after ejaculation , when the spermatozoa leave the vagina and enter the upper female reproductive tract.

In any given cell, the metabolic state and specific ion channels and transporters determine the internal and the external ion concentration and the plasma membrane permeability that defines the Em. Fertil Steril. Buffone, mgbuffone ibyme. Unfavorable conditions during life in the uterus and in during childhood not only affects health in childhood, but also increases the potential risk of disease in adulthood. Cell 28, — These, in turn, stimulate the acrosome reaction and prepare spermatozoa for penetration of the egg zona pellucida prior to fertilization. Abstract Background Capacitation involves physiological changes that spermatozoa must undergo in the female reproductive tract or in vitro to obtain the ability to bind, penetrate and fertilize the egg. Kirichok, Y. Carlson, A. Moreover, some molecules act in a species-dependent manner. Sperm cells are harvested through ejaculation or harvested from the caudal epididymis and allowed to liquefy at room temperature. Human spermatozoa contain multiple targets for protein S-nitrosylation: an alternative mechanism of the modulation of sperm function by nitric oxide? CAS Google Scholar.