Towards Understanding the Molecular Mechanism of Sperm Chemotaxis
Year: 2004
Type: article
Abstract: The awareness that, in most animal species, the prospects of the male’s spermatozoa to reach the female’s eggs are very slim in the absence of some guidance mechanism (usually chemical in nature) has been acquired gradually; first, in marine species, where both types of gametes are released into sea water (for review see Miller, 1985), and ultimately, in the last decade or so, in mammals (for review see Eisenbach, 1999). Such chemical guidance, sperm chemotaxis, is now recognized in many marine invertebrates, fish, amphibians, and a few mammals (humans included) (Eisenbach, 2004). This suggests that sperm chemotaxis is a general guidance mechanism, irrespective of whether the fertilization is external, like in most marine species, or whether it is internal, as in mammals.
Author: Michael Eisenbach
Institution: Weizmann Institute of Science
Language: English
Subfield: Reproductive Medicine
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2128236532