Evidence has been presented that the PH-20 protein functions in sperm adhesion to the egg zona pellucida (Primakoff, P., H. Hyatt, and D. G. Myles, 1985, J. Cell Biol., 101:2239-2244). The PH-20 protein migrates from its original surface domain to a new surface domain after the acrosome reaction (Myles, D. G., and P. Primakoff, 1984, J. Cell Biol., 99:1634-1641). The acrosome reaction is an exo...

This study investigated the relationship between acrosin activation and pig sperm proacrosin binding protein (sp32) phosphorylation levels. Differently processed pig spermatozoa (fresh semen sperm, capacitation sperm, acrosome reaction sperm, capacitation-like sperm, and thawed sperm) were subjected to sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and Western blot analysis. The fres...

In this study, buffalo spermatozoa were in-vitro capacitated and acrosome reacted using modified Tyrode’s bicarbonatebuffered medium (sp-TALP media). Lipids were extracted from freshly ejaculated, in-vitro capacitated and acrosome reacted buffalo spermatozoa. The total lipid content of freshly ejaculated spermatozoa (171.5±2.90 μg/108 cells), capacitated spermatozoa (128.2±3.29 μg/108 cells) an...

Mammalian sperm acrosomes contain a trypsin-like protease called acrosin which causes limited and specific hydrolysis of the extracellular matrix of the mammalian egg, the zona pellucida. Acrosin was localized on hamster, guinea-pig and human sperm using monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies to human acrosin labelled with colloidal gold. This was visualized directly with transmission electron mi...

OBJECTIVE Sperm preparation techniques select sperm population with improved sperm motion characteristics. We sought to determine whether the swim-up technique selects spermatozoa with the ability to undergo hypoosmotic swelling, and how swim-up and subsequent capacitation affect the acrosome reaction rate. METHODS Semen specimens from 15 normal donors were divided into unprocessed, swim-up, ...

BACKGROUND Glycodelin-A interacts with spermatozoa before fertilization, but its role in modulating sperm functions is not known. Zona pellucida-induced acrosome reaction is crucial to fertilization and its dysfunction is a cause of male infertility. We hypothesized that glycodelin-A, a glycoprotein found in the female reproductive tract, potentiates human spermatozoa for zona pellucida-induced...

Membrane fusion events are required in three steps in sea urchin fertilization: the acrosome reaction in sperm, fusion of the plasma membrane of acrosome-reacted sperm with the plasma membrane of the egg, and exocytosis of the contents of the egg cortical granules. We recently reported the involvement of a Zn2+-dependent metalloendoprotease in the acrosome reaction (Farach, H. C., D. I. Mundy, ...

To elucidate the molecular mechanisms involved in sperm maturation during epididymal transit, we intended to isolate secretory molecules that are region-specifically expressed along the epididymis and secreted into the lumen of epididymal ducts. By using differential display screening and DNA sequence analyses, we isolated a rat bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein (BPI) possessing a si...

BACKGROUND Nitric oxide (NO) is a signaling molecule produced by intracellular nitric oxide synthase (NOS) enzymes. This free radical appears to affect sperm capacitation, a maturation step preceding acrosome reaction. Recent studies have reported leptin ability to promote capacitation and acrosome reaction in pig male gametes. METHODS This study has investigated nitric oxide production in le...