The authors have looked at the activation of the complement cascade, a cell-signaling pathway that is activated during immune reactions, but that was not known to contribute to normal physiological processes. They show that a novel form of restricted complement activation occurs on the surface of viable sperm upon exposure to follicular fluid.
The data suggest that this localized complement activation aids in the fusion process between the spermatozoa and egg. In addition, this targeted and restricted form of complement activation on cell surfaces may have implications for other cell-cell interactions.
TITLE: Targeted and restricted complement activation on acrosome-reacted spermatozoa
AUTHOR CONTACT:
John Atkinson
Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO USA
Phone: 314-362-8391; Fax: 314-362-1366; E-mail: jatkinso@im.wustl.edu
View the PDF of this article at: https://www.the-jci.org/article.php?id=23213
Journal of Clinical Investigation