BACKGROUND Semen from the chimpanzee species becomes a colloidal solid after ejaculation. The formation of this copulatory plug is believed to prevent additional spermatozoa of subsequent mating events from accessing the ova. However, this naturally preserved strategy hampers the processes for sperm preparation. In this study, we investigated whether collagenase can be used to degelify the seme...

OBJECTIVE In assisted reproduction, spermatozoa must be effectively separated from seminal plasma to undergo capacitation, a prerequisite for fertilization. Percoll was recently withdrawn from the American market because of safety concerns. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the quality of sperm separated by two different sperm washing media, and compare these results to sperm quality af...

In men with non-obstructive azoospermia, testicle biopsy can provide isolated sperm which can be used for fertilization of an oocyte. The male seminal plasma was examined for adequate biochemical parameters and then tested as potential diagnostic parameters for prediction of sperm presence in non-obstructive azoospermia. Sperm was obtained by preparation of the testicular tissue. Biochemical pa...

Pentoxifylline, an inhibitor of cAMP phosphodiesterase activity, favours intracellular cAMP concentration increase. In-vitro treatment of semen with pentoxifylline leads to marked augmentation of sperm motility, enhancement of acrosome reaction, increase of sperm penetration into zona-free hamster oocytes, and protection of the sperm plasma membrane. Such properties indicate that the drug may b...

The introduction of the technique of intracytoplasmic sperm injection to achieve fertilization, especially using surgically retrieved testicular or epididymal sperm from men with obstructive or non-obstructive azoospermia, has revolutionized the field of assisted reproduction. The techniques for the retrieval of spermatozoa vary from relatively simple percutaneous sperm aspiration to open excis...

CatSper family proteins are putative ion channels expressed exclusively in membranes of the sperm flagellum and required for male fertility. Here, we show that mouse CatSper1 is essential for depolarization-evoked Ca2+ entry and for hyperactivated movement, a key flagellar function. CatSper1 is not needed for other developmental landmarks, including regional distributions of CaV1.2, CaV2.2, and...

Supplemental Methods 15 Sperm sample collection and library preparation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Hierarchical clustering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Orthologous promoter HMR sizes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Ultra-conserved HMRs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...