Mammalian sperm acquire fertilizing capacity in the female tract in a process called capacitation. At the molecular level, capacitation requires protein kinase A activation, changes in membrane potential and an increase in intracellular calcium. Inhibition of these pathways results in loss of fertilizing ability in vivo and in vitro. We demonstrated that transient incubation of mouse sperm with Ca(2+) ionophore accelerated capacitation and rescued fertilizing capacity in sperm with inactivated PKA function. We now show that a pulse of Ca(2+) ionophore induces fertilizing capacity in sperm from infertile CatSper1 (Ca(2+) channel), Adcy10 (soluble adenylyl cyclase) and Slo3 (K(+) channel) KO mice. In contrast, sperm from infertile mice lacking the Ca(2+) efflux pump PMACA4 were not rescued. These results indicate that a transient increase in intracellular Ca(2+) can overcome genetic infertility in mice and suggest this approach may prove adaptable to rescue sperm function in certain cases of human male infertility.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep33589 | DOI Listing |
Gels
December 2024
Biophysics and Biotechnology Department, Voronezh State University, 1 Universitetskaya Square, 394018 Voronezh, Russia.
Carboxymethyl cellulose sodium salt (CMC)-based superabsorbents are promising materials for the development of agricultural matrices aimed at water management and slow-release fertilizer production. However, an increase in the CMC content tends to reduce their water-absorbing capacity. This study aims to develop a cost-effective method for producing eco-friendly superabsorbents with enhanced water-absorbing capacity by incorporating a porogen and employing lyophilization.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFront Plant Sci
December 2024
Sugarcane Research Institute, Guangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences/Key Laboratory of Sugarcane Biotechnology and Genetic Improvement, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs/Guangxi Key Laboratory of Sugarcane Genetic Improvement, Nanning, Guangxi, China.
The requirement for agricultural crops continues to enhance with the continuous growth of the human population globally. Plant pathogenic diseases outbreaks are enhancing and threatening food security and safety for the vulnerable in different regions worldwide. Silicon (Si) is considered a non-essential element for plant growth.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnviron Res
December 2024
College of Chemistry, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, Fujian, 350108, China; CAS Key Laboratory of Design and Assembly of Functional Nanostructures, and Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Nanomaterials, Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Fuzhou, Fujian, 350002, China; Xiamen Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Photoelectric Functional Materials, Xiamen Institute of Rare Earth Materials, Haixi Institutes, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen, Fujian, 361021, China; Fujian College, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Fuzhou, Fujian, 350002, China. Electronic address:
Calcite is a promising material choice for adsorbing phosphates because of its abundance and environmentally benign nature. However, the slow adsorption kinetics and hence low adsorption capacity within a short time frame hinders its practical application. In this work, we solve these problems by presenting a low Mg-doped calcite adsorbent, Mg-10.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFront Endocrinol (Lausanne)
December 2024
Department of Reproductive Medicine, The Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, China.
Purpose: This study aims to create and validate a clinical model that predict the probability of blastocyst formation in IVF/ICSI-ET cycles.
Methods: This study employed a retrospective methodology, gathering data from 4961 cleavage-stage embryos that cultured in the reproductive center's of the Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University between June 2020 and March 2024. 3472 were in the training set and 1489 were in the validation set when it was randomly split into the training set and validation set in a 7:3 ratio.
Reprod Health
December 2024
The George Institute for Global Health, Imperial College London, London, UK.
Target 3.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aims for universal access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services by 2030, including family planning services, information, education, and integration into national strategies. In contemporary times, reproductive medicine is progressively incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance sperm cell prediction and selection, in vitro fertilisation models, infertility and pregnancy screening.
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