Pharmacological Inactivation of CatSper Blocks Sperm Fertilizing Ability Independently of the Capacitation Status of the Cells: Implications for Non-hormonal Contraception.

ABSTRACT: Cation channel of sperm (CatSper), the main sperm-specific Ca²⁺ channel, plays a key role in mammalian fertilization, and it is essential for male fertility, becoming an attractive target for contraception. Based on this, in the present work, we investigated the effects of CatSper inactivation on in vitro and in vivo sperm fertilizing ability and the mechanisms underlying such effects. Exposure of cauda epididymal mouse sperm to different concentrations (1-20 μM) of the potent CatSper inhibitor HC-056456 (HC) during in vitro capacitation showed no effects on sperm viability but significantly affected Ca²⁺ entry into the cells, progressive motility, protein tyrosine phosphorylation, induced acrosome reaction, and hyperactivation, as well as the spe

SUBMITTER: Curci L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8290173 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature