Impaired transport and fertilization in vivo of calcium-treated spermatozoa from +/+ or congenic tw32/+ mice.
To determine whether calcium alters processes important for fertilization in vivo, mouse (+/+) spermatozoa were incubated in medium with 1.0-1.7 mM calcium prior to artificial insemination (AI) into the cervix of hormonally primed females. Spermatozoa from congenic tw32/+ mice were also tested because their flagella are hypersensitive to calcium. As a control, spermatozoa were incubated in calcium-deficient medium prior to AI. Spermatozoa from mice of both genotypes incubated in calcium-containing medium fertilized significantly fewer eggs after AI than did spermatozoa incubated in calcium-deficient medium. In addition, calcium-treated spermatozoa from tw32/+ mice fertilized significantly fewer eggs than calcium-treated +/+ spermatozoa. Pretreatment with calcium also reduced the number of spermatozoa in the oviducts 0.5-4.5 h after AI, and the oviducts of females inseminated with calcium-treated spermatozoa from tw32/+ mice contained significantly fewer spermatozoa than those of females inseminated with calcium-treated +/+ spermatozoa. These results suggest that preincubation in millimolar levels of calcium changes the physiology of epididymal spermatozoa in such a way as to impair sperm transport to the oviduct and fertilization in vivo.
Olds-Clarke
P
P
Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Temple University School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19140.
Wivell
W
W
D000818:Animals; D002118:Calcium / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005187:Fallopian Tubes / Q000166:cytology; D005260:Female; D005306:Fertilization / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008809:Mice, Inbred C3H; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008817:Mice, Mutant Strains; D013076:Sperm Count; D013083:Sperm Transport / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology
D002118:Calcium