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Published-Ahead-of-Print October 4, 2006, DOI:10.2164/jandrol.106.001081
Journal of Andrology, Vol. 28, No. 2, March/April 2007
Copyright © American Society of Andrology
DOI: 10.2164/jandrol.106.001081

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First Steps in the Development of a Functional Assay for Human Sperm Using Pig Oocytes

SEBASTIAN CANOVAS*, PILAR COY* AND EMILIO GOMEZ{dagger}

From the * Department of Veterinary Physiology, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain; and the {dagger} Clínica IVI-Murcia, Murcia, Spain.

Correspondence to: Dr. Pilar Coy, Departamento de Fisiología, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de Murcia, Murcia 30071, España (e-mail: pcoy{at}um.es).


The use of mammalian oocytes to assess human sperm functionality could be a helpful tool with potential applications in clinical and research programs. In an attempt to develop the pig model, the aim of the present work was to study the interaction between human spermatozoa and pig oocytes at the zona pellucida (ZP), the oolemma, and the ooplasm levels. In vitro matured pig oocytes and human spermatozoa from fertile and low-fertility donors were employed. The induction of the acrosome reaction by the ZP, the ability of the sperm to penetrate the oocyte after cocincubation, and the male pronuclear formation after ICSI were evaluated. Human spermatozoa can bind to pig ZP and undergo the acrosome reaction (15% to 58%, depending on the individual); they are not able to fuse with the oolemma but they can decondense and form a male pronucleus (40%–100%) when injected into pig oocytes. In conclusion, this study shows that pig oocytes can be a useful model to assess human sperm functionality.

     Key words: Sperm functionality assay, species specificity, sperm-oocyte interaction, heterologous ICSI






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