This project seeks to understand the mechanisms responsible for mammalian sperm transport through the female reproductive tract to the site of fertilization, and for subsequent sperm penetration through the ovum vestments. We have approached these objectives by focusing directly on the motions of the spermatozoa, and by seeking to determine the forces which push the sperm forward and the resistances which must be overcome. Using high-speed videomicrography, we will obtain detailed data on sperm movement characteristics which will serve as input to hydrodynamic computations of how hard sperm thrust through cervical mucus, the cumulus, and zona pellucida. Such computations require new hydrodynamic theory, which we will develop. At the level of the cervix, we will study the extent to which pressure forces created by the female viscera assist spermatozoa in passage through the mucus. We will study the details of the sperm-cervix interaction in vivo by surgically removing the cervix after insemination and analyzing the local properties of the mucus, and the behavior of sperm in the lumen and epithelial crypts. We will study whether the products of ovulation influence sperm motility during final approach to the cumulus. We will build and apply a mechanical microprobe that mimics the microscale forces applied by sperm against the mucus and ovum vestments. Use of the probe will enable us to measure the resistances which sperm experience, and whether they are altered by sperm enzymes. Our goal is to understand details of factors which control sperm transport and fertilization, and thereby to provide new insights into their analysis and alteration for contraceptive and fertility-enhancing purposes.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01HD012971-08
Application #
3312038
Study Section
Reproductive Biology Study Section (REB)
Project Start
1979-04-01
Project End
1989-11-30
Budget Start
1986-12-01
Budget End
1987-11-30
Support Year
8
Fiscal Year
1987
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of California Davis
Department
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
094878337
City
Davis
State
CA
Country
United States
Zip Code
95618
Behboodi, E; Katz, D F; Samuels, S J et al. (1991) The use of a urinary estrone conjugates assay for detection of optimal mating time in the cynomolgus macaque (Macaca fascicularis). J Med Primatol 20:229-34
Katz, D F; Morales, P; Samuels, S J et al. (1990) Mechanisms of filtration of morphologically abnormal human sperm by cervical mucus. Fertil Steril 54:513-6
Katz, D F; Drobnis, E Z; Overstreet, J W (1989) Factors regulating mammalian sperm migration through the female reproductive tract and oocyte vestments. Gamete Res 22:443-69
Yudin, A I; Hanson, F W; Katz, D F (1989) Human cervical mucus and its interaction with sperm: a fine-structural view. Biol Reprod 40:661-71
Yudin, A I; Cherr, G N; Katz, D F (1988) Structure of the cumulus matrix and zona pellucida in the golden hamster: a new view of sperm interaction with oocyte-associated extracellular matrices. Cell Tissue Res 251:555-64
Drobnis, E Z; Yudin, A I; Cherr, G N et al. (1988) Hamster sperm penetration of the zona pellucida: kinematic analysis and mechanical implications. Dev Biol 130:311-23
Drobnis, E Z; Andrew, J B; Katz, D F (1988) Biophysical properties of the zona pellucida measured by capillary suction: is zona hardening a mechanical phenomenon? J Exp Zool 245:206-19
Baltz, J M; Katz, D F; Cone, R A (1988) Mechanics of sperm-egg interaction at the zona pellucida. Biophys J 54:643-54
Cherr, G N; Drobnis, E Z; Katz, D F (1988) Localization of cortical granule constituents before and after exocytosis in the hamster egg. J Exp Zool 246:81-93
Katz, D F; Davis, R O (1987) Automatic analysis of human sperm motion. J Androl 8:170-81

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