Epididymal Proteins and Gamete Fusion

CUASNICÚ, PATRICIA; COHEN, DÉBORA; ELLERMAN, DIEGO; DA ROS, VANINA; MORGENFELD, MAURO

The Epididymis: from molecules to clinical practice - a comprehensive survey of the efferent ducts, the epididymis, and the vas deferens

Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers

Lugar: New Yotrk; Año: 2002; p. 389 - 404

Mammalian spermatozoa that leave the testis do not have the ability to recognize and fertilize an egg; they require a maturation process that takes place while they are passing through the epididymis. Transit through this organ confers on sperm the capacity for vigorous motility, and the ability to become capacitated, undergo the acrosome reaction, interact with the zona pellucida (ZP), and bind to and fuse with the egg plasma membrane (Cooper, 1986; Bedford, 1990; Yanagimachi, 1994).