Teratozoospermia is a disorder associated with high abnormal sperm morphology which affects fertility in males. In recent years, it has been described that biomarker-based sperm quality evaluation can alleviate male infertility treatment. Phospholipase C zeta (PLCζ) is a sperm-specific factor which appears to be a predicting biomarker for fertilization potential of males. Following fertilizatio...

OBJECTIVE To determine the effect of infertility-linked sperm phospholipase Cζ (PLCζ) mutations on their ability to trigger oocyte Ca(2+) oscillations and development, and also to evaluate the potential therapeutic utility of wild-type, recombinant PLCζ protein for rescuing failed oocyte activation and embryo development. DESIGN Test of a novel therapeutic approach to male factor infertility....

Metaphase II-arrested mouse eggs are stimulated to complete meiosis by sperm-induced Ca2+ spiking. The Ca2+ signal causes activation of the E3 ligase anaphase-promoting complex/cyclosome (APC), leading to the destruction of key proteins necessary for meiotic exit. We show, using western blots of mouse eggs, the presence of both APC activators cdc20 and cdh1, which target D-box and D-box/KEN-box...

Abstract Appropriate fertilization practices play a crucial role in the maintenance of genetic diversity within captive fish broodstocks. We assessed influence vitro storage gametes (0-, 7- and 14-days post-stripping) at 1 °C on ovarian fluid pH, sperm motility, embryo viability critically endangered Finnish landlocked salmon ( Salmo salar m. sebago ) population. A repeated full-factorial desig...

The final stage of spermatid terminal differentiation involves the removal of their bulk cytoplasm in a process known as spermatid individualization. Here we show that apoptotic proteins play an essential role during spermatid individualization in Drosophila melanogaster. Several aspects of sperm terminal differentiation, including the activation of caspases, are reminiscent of apoptosis. Notab...

Fertilization is a cell biological phenomenon of crucial importance for the birth of new life in a variety of multicellular and sexual reproduction species such as algae, animal and plants. Fertilization involves a sequence of events, in which the female gamete "egg" and the male gamete "spermatozoon (sperm)" develop, acquire their functions, meet and fuse with each other, to initiate embryonic...

In this study we evaluated effects of surfactants on motility parameters and DNA integrity of spermatozoa of freshwater teleost fish. Common carp (Cyprinus carpio) and brown trout (Salmo trutta fario) spermatozoa were exposed to either sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS, anionic surfactant) or octoxynol 9 ( Triton X-100, nonionic surfactant). Both surfactants added at activation caused a decrease in ...

Fertilization is a matter of life or death. In animals of sexual reproduction, the appropriate communication between mature and competent male and female gametes determines the generation of a new individual. Ion channels are key elements in the dialogue between sperm, its environment, and the egg. Components from the outer layer of the egg induce ion permeability changes in sperm that regulate...

Sperm adhesion to egg zonae pellucidae initiates sperm acrosome reactions, an exocytotic event that is an early step during fertilization. Previously, it was suggested that zona pellucida-evoked Ca2+ entry into sperm through low voltage-activated Ca2+ channels is an essential step in acrosome reactions, based on the inhibitory effects of Ca2+ channel antagonists. However, analysis of this chann...

Sperm from different species have evolved distinctive motility structures, including tubulin-based flagella in mammals and major sperm protein (MSP)-based pseudopods in nematodes. Despite such divergence, we show that sperm-specific PP1 phosphatases, which are required for male fertility in mouse, function in multiple processes in the development and motility of Caenorhabditis elegans amoeboid ...