We have developed an assay for detecting the acrosome reaction in mouse sperm using chlortetracycline (CTC) as a fluorescent probe. Sperm known to be intact with nonreacted acrosomes show CTC fluorescence in the presence of Ca2+ over the anterior portion of the sperm head on the plasma membrane covering the acrosome. Sperm which have undergone the acrosome reaction do not show fluorescence on t...

The mammalian zona pellucida has an important function in the fertilization process. The zona pellucida protein 3 (ZP3 or ZPC) is the ligand for primary sperm binding and induces the acrosome reaction. In various species, ZP3 primary structures are highly conserved as revealed by cDNA cloning. The objective of these studies was to localize ZP3 protein using antisera generated against defined sy...

We describe a solid-phase assay that has permitted further analysis of zona pellucida glycoprotein, ZP3, as sperm receptor and acrosome reaction-inducer during fertilization in mice. The assay employs silica beads that contain epoxy groups to which purified, mouse oocyte ZP3 is covalently linked (ZP3-beads). ZP3-beads were characterized, e.g. by whole-mount autoradiography and flow cytofluorome...

Despite the practice of spiking flocks with younger males, reproductive problems increasingly impact the capability of flock managers to produce needed chicks and increase the cost of chick production. The problem also impacts breeders and producers using artificial insemination (AI). Recognizing that the problem is partially caused by poor semen quality, flock managers might consider evaluatio...

BACKGROUND Although the comet assay has potential value for measuring DNA damage in large epidemiological human sperm studies, it is impractical to perform the assay daily on fresh semen samples. Therefore, before its use in epidemiological studies, the reliability of the comet assay in measuring DNA damage in cryopreserved sperm should be compared with that in fresh human sperm. METHODS Seme...

Oxidative stress (OS) plays an essential role in male infertility aetiology by affecting sperm quality, function, and also the integrity of sperm DNA. The assessment of oxidative stress in semen may be an important tool to improve the evaluation of sperm reproductive capacity. The purpose of this study was the evaluation of any possible relation between the unbalance of oxidative stress caused ...

Studies carried out in several mammalian species suggest that oviductin, also known as oviduct-specific glycoprotein or OVGP1, plays a key role in sperm capacitation, fertilization, and development of early embryos. In the present study, we used recombinant DNA technology to produce, for the first time, recombinant hamster OVGP1 (rHamOVGP1) in human embryonic kidney 293 (HEK293) cells. rHamOVGP...

A field trial was conducted to compare the fertility predicting capacity of different sperm assays applying classical semen analysis, sperm function and the homologous in vitro penetration test (hIVP) to 60 ejaculates from four boars collected over a period of 15 weeks. No differences were found between the groups of fertility (Low Fertility: < 20%; Intermediate: 40-60% and High: > 80%) for spe...