Dynamics of the Mammalian Sperm Head.
K.
Toshimori, Chiba University Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba, Japan.
Modifications
and Maturation Events From Spermatogenesis to Egg Activation
Advances
Anatomy, Embryology and Cell Biology, Vol. 204.
Mammalian
spermatozoa have complex structures. The structure-function relationship of
sperm has been studies from various viewpoints. Accumulated evidence has shown
that the sperm components undergo sequential changes from the beginning of
spermatogenesis to the time of fertilization / embryogenesis. Structural
analyses have been performed using various new techniques of light and electron
microscopy as well as immunohistochemistry and in combination with specific
probes such as antibodies against sperm components. Recently developed
gene-manipulation techniques have accelerated investigations on the events that
govern the relationship between the structure and molecular components of sperm.
In addition, animal models with gene manipulations have been shown to exhibit
various morphological and functional abnormalities that lead to infertility. In
this book, I discuss the events that occur in the normal sperm head and govern
the structure-function relationship from the time of spermatogenesis to that of
fertilization or egg activation. In this regard, I describe dynamic
modifications and maturation events occurring in sperm-head components and
compare the outcome of these events with the outcomes of their failure.
2009.
1-98p. 36illus., 5in color. (Advances in Anatomy, Embryology and Cell
Biology, Vol. 204) Softcover.