title: Epididymal protein markers and fertility.
abstract: The last stages of male gamete differentiation occur outside the gonad in a specific environment controlled by the epididymal epithelium. All the fundamental characteristics of a fertile spermatozoon are acquired sequentially during transit through the epididymal tubule. Full understanding of the mechanisms involved in these gamete modifications is a key to understanding and controlling such important stages in male fertility. With the development of new large scale technologies, large amounts of information give hope of identifying the fundamental elements involved in such cellular events and of being able to obtain some markers predictive of male fertility that would be valuable both in human and/or animal reproduction.
authors.affiliation: INRA, CNRS, Université de Tours, Haras Nationaux, SPARC (Station de Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements), 37380, Nouzilly, France. Electronic address: jean-louis.dacheux@orange.fr.
authors.forename: Jean-Louis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Dacheux
authors.affiliation: INRA, CNRS, Université de Tours, Haras Nationaux, SPARC (Station de Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements), 37380, Nouzilly, France.
authors.forename: Françoise
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Dacheux
authors.affiliation: INRA, CNRS, Université de Tours, Haras Nationaux, SPARC (Station de Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements), 37380, Nouzilly, France.
authors.forename: Xavier
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Druart
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015415:Biomarkers; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology; D004822:Epididymis / Q000378:metabolism*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D013045:Species Specificity; D013079:Sperm Maturation / Q000502:physiology; D013081:Sperm Motility / Q000502:physiology; D013083:Sperm Transport / Q000502:physiology; D013091:Spermatogenesis / Q000502:physiology*; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers
keywords: Epididymis; Male fertility; Male fertility markers; Sperm maturation