Mechanisms of the sperm guidance, an essential aid for meeting the oocyte

SILVINA PEREZ MARTINEZ; RAQUEL MARÍA LOTTERO LECONTE; LUCIANA CASTELLANO; CARLOS AGUSTÍN ISIDRO ALONSO; SILVINA PEREZ MARTINEZ; RAQUEL MARÍA LOTTERO LECONTE; CARLOS AGUSTÍN ISIDRO ALONSO; LUCIANA CASTELLANO

Translational Cancer Research

AME Publishing Company

Lugar: Shatin, NT; Año: 2017

2218-676x

In mammals, ejaculated spermatozoa must migrate into thefemale reproductive tract in order to reach and fertilize theoocyte (Figure 1). The number of spermatozoa that reachthe oviductal isthmus (where they attach to oviductal cellsand form the sperm reservoir) is small (1,2) and only ~10%of these spermatozoa in humans become capacitated (3)and acquire a state of readiness for fertilizing the oocyte.In addition, the sperm cells have a torturous and long waybetween the reservoir and the oocyte at the fertilization site(3?5 cm in humans) (2). These facts, together with the tinydimensions of the gametes in comparison to the tube lengthmake improbable the sperm arrival to the fertilization siteand make evident the need for sperm guidance (4). Differentguidance mechanisms appear essential for successful spermarrival to the fertilization site: the short range mechanismsuch as chemotaxis (swimming up a chemoattractantgradient) (5) and the long range mechanisms such asrheotaxis (swimming against a fluid flow) and thermotaxis(the temperature-oriented cell motility).