Zinc is a master-regulator of sperm function associated with binding, motility, and metabolic modulation during porcine sperm capacitation.

ABSTRACT: Sperm capacitation is a post-testicular maturation step endowing spermatozoa with fertilizing capacity within the female reproductive tract, significant for fertility, reproductive health, and contraception. Recently discovered mammalian sperm zinc signatures and their changes during sperm in vitro capacitation (IVC) warranted a more in-depth study of zinc interacting proteins (further zincoproteins). Here, we identified 1752 zincoproteins, with 102 changing significantly in abundance (P < 0.05) after IVC. These are distributed across 8 molecular functions, 16 biological processes, and 22 protein classes representing 130 pathways. Two key, paradigm-shifting observations were made: i) during sperm capacitation, molecular functions of zincoproteins are both upregulated and downregulated with

SUBMITTER: Zigo M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9166710 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature