[Ca2+]i signalling in sperm--making the most of what you've got

Stephen Publicover, Claire V Harper, Christopher Barratt

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

243 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Thanks to a worrying decrease in male fertility, understanding how sperm 'work' is a matter both of interest and great importance. Sperm of all animals detect various environmental cues. The 'behavioural' and physiological responses of sperm must be specific, appropriate and correctly timed. Strangely, in a cell with few organelles and minimal cytoplasmic volume, internal Ca(2+) concentration, [Ca(2+)](i), regulates almost all these activities. How does such a simple cell achieve this - and is it as simple as it seems?

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)235-42
Number of pages8
JournalNature Cell Biology
Volume9
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 30 Mar 2007

Keywords

  • Acrosome/physiology
  • Animals
  • Calcium/metabolism
  • Calcium Signaling/physiology
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Models, Biological
  • Sperm Motility/physiology
  • Sperm Tail/physiology
  • Spermatozoa/physiology

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