SPERM MEMBRANE CHANNELS, RECEPTORS AND KINEMATICS : Using boar spermatozoa for drug toxicity screening

.............................................................................................................................. I POPULÄRVETENSKAPLIG SAMMANFATTNING ........................................................... II LIST OF PAPERS .................................................................................................................... V ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................................................. VI TABLE OF CONTENTS ...................................................................................................... VIII GENERAL INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 1 REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ........................................................................................... 3 The pig spermatozoon ...................................................................................................... 3 Spermatogenesis ................................................................................................... 3 Sperm maturation ................................................................................................. 4 Structure of the ejaculated pig spermatozoon ...................................................... 5 The sperm plasma membrane ............................................................................... 7 Sperm membrane proteins .................................................................................... 8 Sperm metabolism ................................................................................................. 9 Sperm motility ..................................................................................................... 12 The boar ejaculate ........................................................................................................... 13 Ejaculation, ejaculate fractions .......................................................................... 13 Seminal plasma ................................................................................................... 14 Sperm transport in the female genital tract ..................................................................... 15 The interactive spermatozoon (capacitation, hyperactivation, acrosome reaction, zona pellucida binding and fertilization) ............................................ 15 Sperm handling in vitro .................................................................................................. 18 Factors affecting boar sperm survival in vitro ................................................... 18 The pig in research, the 3R principles ............................................................................ 20 AIMS........................................................................................................................................ 21