Human sperm chemotaxis: both the oocyte and its surrounding cumulus cells secrete sperm chemoattractants

BACKGROUND: Human sperm chemotaxis to pre-ovulatory follicular fluid is well established in vitro. However, it is not known whether the female's oocyte–cumulus complex secretes sperm chemoattractants subsequent to ovulation (for enabling sperm chemotaxis within the Fallopian tube) and, if so, w...

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Published in:Human reproduction (Oxford) 2005-03, Vol.20 (3), p.761-767
Main Authors: Sun, Fei, Bahat, Anat, Gakamsky, Anna, Girsh, Eliezer, Katz, Nathan, Giojalas, Laura C., Tur-Kaspa, Ilan, Eisenbach, Michael
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biological and medical sciences
Cells, Cultured
Chemotactic Factors - metabolism
chemotaxis
Chemotaxis - drug effects
Chemotaxis - physiology
Culture Media, Conditioned - metabolism
Culture Media, Conditioned - pharmacology
cumulus cells
Female
Gynecology. Andrology. Obstetrics
Humans
Male
Medical sciences
Metaphase
oocyte-conditioned medium
Oocytes - metabolism
Oogenesis - physiology
Ovarian Follicle - cytology
Ovarian Follicle - metabolism
ovum
sperm chemoattractant
Spermatozoa - physiology
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Summary:BACKGROUND: Human sperm chemotaxis to pre-ovulatory follicular fluid is well established in vitro. However, it is not known whether the female's oocyte–cumulus complex secretes sperm chemoattractants subsequent to ovulation (for enabling sperm chemotaxis within the Fallopian tube) and, if so, which of these cell types—the oocyte or the cumulus oophorus—is the physiological origin of the secreted chemoattractant. METHODS: By employing a directionality-based chemotaxis assay, we examined whether media conditioned with either individual, mature (metaphase II) human oocytes or the surrounding cumulus cells attract human sperm by chemotaxis. RESULTS: We observed sperm chemotaxis to each of these media, suggesting that both the oocyte and the cumulus cells secrete sperm chemoattractants. CONCLUSIONS: These observations suggest that sperm chemoattractants are secreted not only prior to ovulation within the follicle, as earlier studies have demonstrated, but also after oocyte maturation outside the follicle, and that there are two chemoattractant origins: the mature oocyte and the surrounding cumulus cells.
ISSN:0268-1161
1460-2350
DOI:10.1093/humrep/deh657