The sperm hook as a functional adaptation for migration and self-organized behavior
In most murine species, spermatozoa exhibit a falciform apical hook at the head end. The function of the sperm hook is not yet clearly understood. In this study, we investigate the role of the sperm hook in the migration of spermatozoa through the female reproductive tract in Mus musculus (C57BL/6),...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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eLife Sciences Publications Ltd
2024-11-01
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| Series: | eLife |
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| Online Access: | https://elifesciences.org/articles/96582 |
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| _version_ | 1846159967153815552 |
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| author | Heungjin Ryu Kibum Nam Byeong Eun Lee Yundon Jeong Seunghun Lee Jeongmo Kim Young-Min Hyun Jae-Ick Kim Jung-Hoon Park |
| author_facet | Heungjin Ryu Kibum Nam Byeong Eun Lee Yundon Jeong Seunghun Lee Jeongmo Kim Young-Min Hyun Jae-Ick Kim Jung-Hoon Park |
| author_sort | Heungjin Ryu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In most murine species, spermatozoa exhibit a falciform apical hook at the head end. The function of the sperm hook is not yet clearly understood. In this study, we investigate the role of the sperm hook in the migration of spermatozoa through the female reproductive tract in Mus musculus (C57BL/6), using a deep tissue imaging custom-built two-photon microscope. Through live reproductive tract imaging, we found evidence indicating that the sperm hook aids in the attachment of spermatozoa to the epithelium and facilitates interactions between spermatozoa and the epithelium during migration in the uterus and oviduct. We also observed synchronized sperm beating, which resulted from the spontaneous unidirectional rearrangement of spermatozoa in the uterus. Based on live imaging of spermatozoa-epithelium interaction dynamics, we propose that the sperm hook plays a crucial role in successful migration through the female reproductive tract by providing anchor-like mechanical support and facilitating interactions between spermatozoa and the female reproductive tract in the house mouse. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-f82276bd9dd240849b9bdc20cc649682 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2050-084X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-11-01 |
| publisher | eLife Sciences Publications Ltd |
| record_format | Article |
| series | eLife |
| spelling | doaj-art-f82276bd9dd240849b9bdc20cc6496822024-11-22T16:14:25ZengeLife Sciences Publications LtdeLife2050-084X2024-11-011310.7554/eLife.96582The sperm hook as a functional adaptation for migration and self-organized behaviorHeungjin Ryu0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1048-9519Kibum Nam1Byeong Eun Lee2Yundon Jeong3Seunghun Lee4Jeongmo Kim5Young-Min Hyun6https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0567-2039Jae-Ick Kim7https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9705-0394Jung-Hoon Park8https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5316-1690Department of Biomedical Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, Ulsan, Republic of Korea; Department of Social Informatics, Kyoto University, Kyoto, JapanDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, Ulsan, Republic of KoreaDepartment of Biological Sciences, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, Ulsan, Republic of KoreaDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, Ulsan, Republic of KoreaDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, Ulsan, Republic of KoreaDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, Ulsan, Republic of KoreaDepartment of Anatomy, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of KoreaDepartment of Biological Sciences, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, Ulsan, Republic of KoreaDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, Ulsan, Republic of KoreaIn most murine species, spermatozoa exhibit a falciform apical hook at the head end. The function of the sperm hook is not yet clearly understood. In this study, we investigate the role of the sperm hook in the migration of spermatozoa through the female reproductive tract in Mus musculus (C57BL/6), using a deep tissue imaging custom-built two-photon microscope. Through live reproductive tract imaging, we found evidence indicating that the sperm hook aids in the attachment of spermatozoa to the epithelium and facilitates interactions between spermatozoa and the epithelium during migration in the uterus and oviduct. We also observed synchronized sperm beating, which resulted from the spontaneous unidirectional rearrangement of spermatozoa in the uterus. Based on live imaging of spermatozoa-epithelium interaction dynamics, we propose that the sperm hook plays a crucial role in successful migration through the female reproductive tract by providing anchor-like mechanical support and facilitating interactions between spermatozoa and the female reproductive tract in the house mouse.https://elifesciences.org/articles/96582spermuterusmulti-photon microscopekinetics |
| spellingShingle | Heungjin Ryu Kibum Nam Byeong Eun Lee Yundon Jeong Seunghun Lee Jeongmo Kim Young-Min Hyun Jae-Ick Kim Jung-Hoon Park The sperm hook as a functional adaptation for migration and self-organized behavior eLife sperm uterus multi-photon microscope kinetics |
| title | The sperm hook as a functional adaptation for migration and self-organized behavior |
| title_full | The sperm hook as a functional adaptation for migration and self-organized behavior |
| title_fullStr | The sperm hook as a functional adaptation for migration and self-organized behavior |
| title_full_unstemmed | The sperm hook as a functional adaptation for migration and self-organized behavior |
| title_short | The sperm hook as a functional adaptation for migration and self-organized behavior |
| title_sort | sperm hook as a functional adaptation for migration and self organized behavior |
| topic | sperm uterus multi-photon microscope kinetics |
| url | https://elifesciences.org/articles/96582 |
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