Evidence for the involvement of PECAM-1 in a receptor mediated signal-transduction pathway regulating capacitation-associated tyrosine phosphorylation in human spermatozoa.

Mammalian spermatozoa must become ;capacitated' in the female reproductive tract before they gain the ability to fertilize the oocyte. The attainment of a capacitated state has been correlated with a number of biochemical changes, the most notable of which is a dramatic increase in the tyrosine phosphorylation status of these cells. Despite its biological importance, the mechanisms responsible for initiating this tyrosine phosphorylation cascade in vivo are unknown.