Mechanisms That Protect Mammalian Sperm from the Spontaneous Acrosome Reaction

To acquire the capacity to fertilize the oocyte, mammalian spermatozoa must undergo a series of biochemical reactions in the female reproductive tract, which are collectively called capacitation. The capacitated spermatozoa subsequently interact with the oocyte zona-pellucida and undergo the acrosome reaction, which enables the penetration of the oocyte and subsequent fertilization. However, the spontaneous acrosome reaction (sAR) can occur prematurely in the sperm before reaching the oocyte cumulus oophorus, thereby jeopardizing fertilization. One of the main processes in capacitation involves actin polymerization, and the resulting F-actin is subsequently dispersed prior to the acrosome reaction. Several biochemical reactions that occur during sperm capacitation, including actin polymerization, protect sperm from sAR. In the present review, we describe the protective mechanisms that regulate sperm capacitation and prevent sAR.

• Publication year

  2023

• Venue

  International Journal of Molecular Sciences

• Publication date

  2023-11-30

• Fields of study

  Biology, Medicine

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.3390/ijms242317005PMID 38069328PMCID 10707520
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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