How and why sperm are changed within the female reproductive tract.

Abstract Authors: Mariana F. Wolfner
Department of Molecular Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca NY, USA

Abstract Text:

Sperm are not “finished” when they leave the male. To fully carry out their function, they are modified within the reproductive tract of the female. Mammalian sperm capacitation is an example of this, but such modifications occur across animals. The molecular nature and consequences of these important changes are not known. Using technical advantages of the model system Drosophila, including that its sperm, seminal, and female reproductive tract proteomes are known, we and our collaborators (Dorus/Pitnick labs) determined how the protein constitution of sperm changes as they move through, or are stored in, the female. The first part of the talk concerns the seminal proteins that associate with sperm soon after entering the female and why/how these proteins (and this association) are important. The talk then segues to the female proteins that subsequently associate with sperm, and what these proteins may do, and why.

[This work was supported by NIH/NICHD grant R37-HD038921.]