Mammalian spermatozoa are characterized by a high proportion of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) which play a crucial role in fertilization. This review focuses on analysis of sperm fatty acid profiles and the effects of omega-3, saturated and trans dietary and sperm fatty acids on sperm parameters. Two major points have been pivotal points of investigation in the field of sperm fatty acid pr...

Mammalian spermatozoa undergo a series of molecular and biochemical changes collectively termed capacitation prior to acquiring the ability to fertilise the oocyte. Although phosphorylation of sperm proteins on tyrosine residues has been recognised as an important component of this process, the precise relationship between the phosphorylation status of mammalian spermatozoa and their capacity f...

BACKGROUND The value of varicocele repair and the latter's impact on semen parameters are still subject to debate. METHODS We analyse changes over time in initially abnormal sperm parameters and serum concentrations of testosterone, FSH and inhibin B after embolization treatment of males with high-grade varicocele. From 2007 to 2012, we recruited 47 male infertile patients with clinically vis...

The interaction of sperm with the egg's extracellular matrix, the zona pellucida (ZP) is the first step of the union between male and female gametes. The molecular mechanisms of this process have been studied for the past six decades with the results obtained being both interesting and confusing. In this article, we describe our recent work, which attempts to address two lines of questions from...

Aim: To characterize mouse capping protein α3 (CPα3) during spermatogenesis and sperm maturation. Methods: We produced rat anti-CPα3 antiserum and examined the expression of CPα3 in various mouse tissues using Western blot analysis and the localization of CPα3 in testicular and epididymal sperm using immunohistochemical analyses. We also examined how the localization of CPα3 and β-actin (ACTB) ...

Cryopreservation induces injuries to fish spermatozoa that in turn affect sperm quality in terms of fertilization ability, motility, DNA and protein integrity and larval survival. To reduce the loss of sperm quality due to freezing-thawing, it is necessary to improve these procedures. In the present study we investigated the ability of two antifreeze proteins (AFPI and AFPIII) to reduce the los...

Preliminary data demonstrated that the inhibition of reactivated sperm motility by calcium was correlated with inhibited protein phosphorylation. The inhibition of phosphorylation by Ca2+ was found to be catalyzed by the calmodulin-dependent protein phosphatase (calcineurin). Sperm from dog, pig, and sea urchin contain both the Ca2+-binding B subunit of the enzyme (Mr 15,000) and the calmodulin...

The present investigation was carried out to assess the effect of Sephadex (G-15) filtration on the post thaw bull semen quality and conception rate. Post thaw unfiltered (control) and Sephadex filtered semen from four healthy bulls (three cross bred and one pure bred Holstein Friesian) were subjected to microscopic examination viz. sperm concentration, individual motility, live sperm count and...

In this paper the spermatozoon of the termite Mastotermes darwiniensis is described. It is the first example of a multiflagellate sperm cell in animals. The sperm consists of a conical head and 100 flagella. Other remarkable features of this sperm cell are the absence of an acrosome, the presence of centrioles containing doublet microtubules instead of triplets, and the presence of axonemes dev...

An infertile couple was referred for intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) because of primary infertility and oligoasthenoteratozoospermia (OAT) in the male. It was observed that although the sperm cells presented with an unusual head size and multiple tails they were able to fertilize the oocytes after ICSI. Subsequent molecular cytogenetic analysis demonstrated de-novo chromosome abnormalit...