BACKGROUND There are many studies focused on long or short storage time of epididymal sperm (EPS) of different species. There are limited studies on preservation or cryopreservation of the domestic goat EPS. OBJECTIVE The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of ex vivo cold-storage on freezing of EPS from goat (Capra hircus). MATERIALS AND METHODS In a split-plot design the ...

A helical structure which had previously been reported in the cytoplasm of many cell types in the desert locust, Schistocerca gregaria, was found in large quantities in the developing male germ cells. The helices were isolated from these cells and negatively stained. The helices, which lie free in the cytoplasm of spermatogonia, primary spermatocytes and secondary spermatocytes (sometimes assoc...

BACKGROUND Humans are ubiquitously exposed to multiple environmental contaminants. Consequences of combined action on the reproductive system remain unknown. This study aimed to assess single and joint effects of cadmium and diazinon exposure on sperm quality parameters. METHODS Male adult Wistar rats were randomized into 4 groups of ten animals each. Group A was used as a control, animals fr...

BACKGROUND Sperm banking is recommended for all men before cancer treatment, which carries a risk of long-term gonadal damage. However, relatively few men take up the offer. Among them, few attend for fertility monitoring or agree to sperm disposal where fertility recovers. Sperm banks are therefore burdened by long-term storage of samples that may not be needed for conception, with implication...

The mouse oocyte can be activated by injection of a single, intact mouse spermatozoon or its isolated head. Isolated tails are unable to activate the oocyte. Active sperm-borne oocyte-activating factor(s) (SOAF) appears during transformation of the round spermatid into the spermatozoon. The action of SOAF is not highly species-specific: mouse oocytes are activated by injection of spermatozoa fr...

Izumo1 is a testis-specific gene product, whose function is essential for sperm-egg fusion. Throughout its lifespan, Izumo1 is posttranslationally modified, being both N-linked glycosylated on its extracellular domain and phosphorylated on the intracellular C-terminal tail. Within the caput regions of the rat epididymis, two phosphorylation events have been documented. However, as sperm pass th...

Sea-urchin tubulins can be assembled in vitro to form microtubules provided that a suitable seed is present. Although fragments of sea-urchin microtubules fail to act as seeds, since they apparently dissociate, short pieces of rat brain microtubule will act as nucleation sites for the assembly of sea-urchin tubulins. In addition, rat brain tubulins appear to undergo a certain amount of in vitro...