[The activation of oocyte development depends on a cytoplasmic chemical factor carried in by the sperm at the moment of fertilization].
The activation of the egg cell metabolism by the spermatozoon which connects with it upon the moment of fertilization may by the result of the influence of the membrane receptors of the gametes or of the presence of an activating factor in the spermatozoon's cytoplasm carried by the male gamete into ooplasm. The first reaction observed in the cytoplasm of the activated oocyte is the increase of the level of calcium ions which determines the activation of many cytophysiological processes. Currently, a prevailing opinion is that an undulating, oscillating increase of the level of Ca2+ is caused by the influence of the activating spermatozoon factor and does not depend on the membrane receptors. The paper presents the survey concerning this little-known but important aspect of fertilization.
Sliwa
Leopold
L
Zakład Biologii Rozwoju Człowieka Collegium Medicum Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego ul. Kopernika 7, 31-034 Kraków.
D001692:Biological Transport; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism*; D015220:Calcium Channels / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009865:Oocytes / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D010063:Ovum / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D013084:Sperm-Ovum Interactions / Q000502:physiology; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*
D015220:Calcium Channels; D002118:Calcium