Non-genomic steroid actions in human spermatozoa. "Persistent tickling from a laden environment".

As sperm traverse the female tract from vagina to oocyte, they experience a steroid milieu, which due to transcriptional inactivity, they can only respond to via non-genomic signaling. This environment mediates events including capacitation, changes in motility patterns, chemotaxis, and acrosome reaction. Current knowledge of the events, calcium signaling pathways, and potential identity of receptors involved is reviewed in light of recent data, with a context for further work in the field, and emphasizing the importance of steroids as a mixed stimulant.