Skip Navigation


Hum. Reprod. Advance Access originally published online on June 24, 2005
Human Reproduction 2005 20(10):2784-2789; doi:10.1093/humrep/dei124
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF ) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
20/10/2784    most recent
dei124v1
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (3)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Romanato, M.
Right arrow Articles by Calvo, J. C.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Romanato, M.
Right arrow Articles by Calvo, J. C.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2005. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oupjournals.org

Andrology

Further evidence on the role of heparan sulfate as protamine acceptor during the decondensation of human spermatozoa

Marina Romanato1,2, Eleonora Regueira2, Mónica S. Cameo1, Consuelo Baldini1, Lucrecia Calvo1,2 and Juan Carlos Calvo2,3,4

1 Biología de la Reproducción, 2 Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental and 3 Department of Biological Chemistry, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina

4 To whom correspondence should be addressed at: IBYME, Vuelta de Obligado 2490, (1428) Buenos Aires, Argentina. E-mail: jcalvo{at}dna.uba.ar

BACKGROUND: Human spermatozoa decondense in vitro upon exposure to heparin and glutathione. Glutathione is also the disulfide bond reducer in vivo, and heparan sulfate, a functional analogue of heparin, has been proposed as the protamine acceptor. The aim of this study was to evaluate the decondensing ability of chemically modified heparins and different glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) on isolated sperm nuclei in vitro, and to analyse the possible role of different GAGs as protamine acceptors. METHODS: Capacitated spermatozoa and isolated sperm nuclei from normospermic semen samples were decondensed in the presence of heparin (or its equivalent) and glutathione. After fixation with glutaraldehyde, the percentage of decondensed spermatozoa and nuclei was determined under phase-contrast. Proteins were extracted from sperm nuclei previously incubated in the presence of gluhathione and different GAGs by incubation with urea–{beta}-meracptoethanol–NaCl, and analysed by acid polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. RESULTS: The ability of desulfated heparins and other GAGs to decondense isolated nuclei mirrored exactly the decondensation of capacitated spermatozoa, the only difference being the level of maximum decondensation achieved. Heparan sulfate and heparin, but not other GAGs, were able to release protamines from sperm chromatin. CONCLUSIONS: Heparan sulfate could be functioning as protamine acceptor in vivo during human sperm nuclear decondensation.

Key words: heparan sulfate/protamine/sperm nuclear decondensation


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Hum Reprod UpdateHome page
S. M. Nelson and I. A. Greer
The potential role of heparin in assisted conception
Hum. Reprod. Update, November 1, 2008; 14(6): 623 - 645.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Hum ReprodHome page
M. Romanato, V. Julianelli, M. Zappi, L. Calvo, and J.C. Calvo
The presence of heparan sulfate in the mammalian oocyte provides a clue to human sperm nuclear decondensation in vivo
Hum. Reprod., May 1, 2008; 23(5): 1145 - 1150.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Hum Reprod UpdateHome page
R. Oliva
Protamines and male infertility
Hum. Reprod. Update, July 1, 2006; 12(4): 417 - 435.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.