The dark staining of human sperm heads by Diff Quik is significantly correlated with abnormal sperm head morphology (r=0.51, p<0.0001), but is not associated with changes in sperm chromatin detected by a sperm chromatin structure assay (SCSA; r=0.18, p>0.09). Whilst valuable in the assessment of head morphology, it is concluded that Diff Quik staining is not a useful substitute for the SCSA to ...

BACKGROUND Cystatin C (CST3), a cysteine protease inhibitor in seminal plasma, is expressed in animal uteri. However, its expression in the human female reproductive tract and its effect on human sperm capacitation are unclear. METHODS The cellular localization of CST3 was observed using immunohistochemistry. The binding of CST3 to sperm was examined using immunocytochemistry. Sperm motility ...

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE An inability or decreased ability of spermatozoa to bind to the zona pellucida (ZP), an extracellular glycoproteinaceous matrix surrounding egg, is one of the plausible causes of idiopathic infertility. It will be clinically useful to distinguish this condition from other causes of infertility. An assay system, investigating binding of human sperm with ZP glycoprotein may...

The mechanisms involved in the regulation of mammalian sperm motility are not well understood. Calcium ions (Ca(2+)) have been suggested to play a key role in the maintenance of motility; nevertheless, how Ca(2+) modulates this process has not yet been completely characterized. Ca(2+) can bind to calmodulin and this complex regulates the activity of multiple enzymes, including Ca(2+)/calmodulin...

Background: The objective of present study was to assess potential of DHR123 (dihydrorhodamine 123) fluorescent probe for measurement of H2O2 produced by human spermatozoa and comparing the results with DCFH-DA (2&#039;, 7&#039;-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate). Materials and Methods: Fluorescent intensity and percentage R123 and DCF positive sperm measured by flow cytometry. The suitable ...

Synthetic endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), omnipresent in food, household, and personal care products, have been implicated in adverse trends in human reproduction, including infertility and increasing demand for assisted reproduction. Here, we study the action of 96 ubiquitous EDCs on human sperm. We show that structurally diverse EDCs activate the sperm-specific CatSper channel and, the...

background: ubiquitin, an 8.5 kda peptide that marks other proteins for proteasomal degradation, tags defective sperm dur­ing epididymal passage. thus, sperm ubiquitination is a universal marker for sperm defects and can be used as a sperm func­tion test. the objective of the present study was to examine the relationships between sperm ubiquiti­nation and clinical se­men parameters, using simpl...

BACKGROUND Sperm aster organization during bovine and human fertilization requires a paternally-derived centriole that must first disengage from the sperm tail connecting-piece. We investigated the participation of the 26S proteasome in this process. METHODS Proteasome localization and enzymatic activity were studied in normal and pathological human spermatozoa by immunocytochemistry and enzyme...

BACKGROUND The precise composition of the human sperm plasma membrane, the molecular interactions that define domain specific functions, and the regulation of membrane associated proteins during the capacitation process, still remain to be fully understood. Here, we investigated the repertoire of calcium-regulated proteins associated with the human sperm plasma membrane. METHODS Surface speci...