Mammalian fertilization requires sperm to penetrate the cumulus to reach the oocyte. Although sperm hyaluronidase has long been believed to participate in the penetration process, our previous works revealed that neither of two sperm hyaluronidases, SPAM1 and HYAL5, are essential for fertilization. In this study, we have produced double-knockout mice lacking SPAM1 and either one of two sperm se...

The flagellar force generated by a hyperactivated monkey spermatozoon was evaluated using the resistive force theory applied to the activated (nonhyperactivated) and hyperactivated flagellar waves that were obtained using high-speed video microscopy and digital image processing in order to clarify the mechanism of sperm penetration through the zona pellucida. No difference in the maximum propul...

In 1980 Katz et al. derived a formula for the percentage of successful collisions (PSC) as a quantitative measure of sperm-cervical mucus penetration efficiency. The use of PSC waned after its validity was questioned by reports of values >100% and the observation that PSC varied with the cross-sectional area of the mucus column. The aim of the present study was to develop a more accurate measur...

Chicken seminal plasma contains a high content of sex steroids including progesterone (P4). According to a published study, in vitro supplementation of P4 to the semen resulted in decreased fertility in the White Leghorn chicken; however, it is not known if increased P4 production in vivo is associated with decreased sperm fertility. Therefore, the aim of the present experiment was to study the...

Work from a number of laboratories has shown that fertilization is blocked in the presence of protease inhibitors, although the specific site of inhibition has not been identified. The present experiments were designed to discriminate between sperm binding to zonae pellucidae as opposed to sperm penetration through zonae, so as to assess the effect of protease inhibitors on these two distinct e...

The present study examined whether treatment of in vitro matured pig oocytes with calcium ionophore (A23187) could prevent polyspermic penetration in vitro. When oocytes cultured for maturation for 33, 36 or 44 h were subsequently treated with 50 μM A23187 in medium with fetal calf serum (FCS) for 1, 2 and 3 h and then cultured for 12 h without spermatozoa, virtually no activation occurred. In ...

BACKGROUND Sperm coating protein beta-defensin 126 (DEFB126) is adsorbed onto the entire surface of macaque sperm in the caudal epididymis and is retained on viable sperm collected from the cervix and the uterine lumen of mated female macaques. We investigated the role of sperm coating protein DEFB126 in cervical mucus penetration (CMP). METHODS Cervical mucus (CM) was collected from peri-ovu...

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...

Naturally-occurring anti-sperm antibodies (ASA) in men can affect fertility by various mechanisms. Some of them are mainly related to the extent of the sperm autoimmunization (e.g., sperm-agglutination and impaired cervical mucus penetration); others are also related to immunoglobulin (Ig)-isotype (e.g., complement-mediated sperm injury through the female genital tract), or to antigenic specifi...

Zona pellucida (ZP) penetration, in vitro fertilization, embryo development, and the morphology of fertilizing sperm were examined through use of normospermic (> 60% structurally normal sperm/ejaculate) versus teratospermic (< 40% structurally normal sperm/ejaculate) ejaculates from domestic cats. In addition, the effect of swim-up processing on sperm-oocyte interaction was compared with that o...