SPERM CAPACITATION AND HYPERACTIVATION

过度激活是运动模式的戏剧性变化 受精前的人类和其他哺乳动物的精子 在女性生殖道或体外。它被认为是 帮助精子到达受精部位， 穿透了鸡蛋的外衣。这样做的长期目标是 项目的目的是研究网络的功能和控制机制。 过度激活及其与精子的关系 获能。在这一点上，具体目标是检查1) 过度激活如何使精子通过女性生殖系统 通过跟踪单个小鼠精子的运动通过 切除的肌束；2)过度激活的优势，通过比较 过度激活前和过度激活后的精子生成能力 通过模拟物理环境的人工环境取得进展 3)细胞内的关系。 钙水平到过度激活的运动，通过使用荧光 结合计算机视频的钙螯合剂Fura-2 荧光和鞭毛弯曲模式的分析；4) 精子头部的钙变化与发生的 在获能和过度激活期间，再次使用Fura-2。这个 小鼠将作为第一个目的的动物模型，因为 精子可透过子宫壁和输卵管观察到； 老鼠和仓鼠的精子将用于第二个目的，因为 它们的运动模式包含了在 哺乳动物的精子和仓鼠的精子将用于后两种 目标，因为它们足够大，能够进行视觉确定 Fura-2顶体状态的研究及图像分析 荧光。从这些研究中学到的信息可以是 用于治疗不孕不育以及开发新的治疗方法 在受精前有效的避孕方法。

Hyperactivation is a dramatic change in the motility pattern of human and other mammalian sperm that occurs prior to fertilization in the female reproductive tract or in vitro. It is thought to assist the sperm in reaching the site of fertilization and penetrating the vestments of the egg. The long term goals of this project are to study the functions and control mechanisms for hyperactivation and to determine its relationship to sperm capacitation. At this point, the specific aims are to examine 1) how hyperactivation moves sperm through the female reproductive tract, by following the movement of individual mouse sperm through excised tracts; 2) the advantages of hyperactivation, by comparing the abilities of prehyperactivated and hyperactivated sperm to make progress through artificial environments that simulate physical aspects of the female tract; 3) the relationship of intracellular calcium levels to hyperactivated motility, by using the fluorescent calcium chelator Fura-2 in conjunction with computerized video analysis of fluorescence and flagellar bending patterns; 4) the relationship between calcium changes in the sperm head, which occur during capacitation, and hyperactivation, again using Fura-2. The mouse will be used as an animal model for the first aim because sperm may be observed through the walls of its uterus and oviduct; mouse and hamster sperm will be used for the second aim because their motility patterns encompass the range observed among mammalian sperm; and hamster sperm will be used for the last two aims because they are large enough to enable visual ascertainment of the state of the acrosome and image analysis of Fura-2 fluorescence. The information learned from these studies can be used to treat infertility as well as to develop new methods of contraception that work prior to fertilization.