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Looking back and looking forward: contributions of electron microscopy to the structural cell biology of gametes and fertilization

Mammalian gametes—the sperm and the egg—represent opposite extremes of cellular organization and scale. Studying the ultrastructure of gametes is crucial to understanding their interactions, and how to manipulate them in order to either encourage or prevent their union. Here, we survey the prominent...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Ravi, Ravi Teja, Leung, Miguel Ricardo, Zeev-Ben-Mordehai, Tzviya
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: The Royal Society 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7536082/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32931719
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsob.200186
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author Ravi, Ravi Teja
Leung, Miguel Ricardo
Zeev-Ben-Mordehai, Tzviya
author_facet Ravi, Ravi Teja
Leung, Miguel Ricardo
Zeev-Ben-Mordehai, Tzviya
author_sort Ravi, Ravi Teja
collection PubMed
description Mammalian gametes—the sperm and the egg—represent opposite extremes of cellular organization and scale. Studying the ultrastructure of gametes is crucial to understanding their interactions, and how to manipulate them in order to either encourage or prevent their union. Here, we survey the prominent electron microscopy (EM) techniques, with an emphasis on considerations for applying them to study mammalian gametes. We review how conventional EM has provided significant insight into gamete ultrastructure, but also how the harsh sample preparation methods required preclude understanding at a truly molecular level. We present recent advancements in cryo-electron tomography that provide an opportunity to image cells in a near-native state and at unprecedented levels of detail. New and emerging cellular EM techniques are poised to rekindle exploration of fundamental questions in mammalian reproduction, especially phenomena that involve complex membrane remodelling and protein reorganization. These methods will also allow novel lines of enquiry into problems of practical significance, such as investigating unexplained causes of human infertility and improving assisted reproductive technologies for biodiversity conservation.
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spelling pubmed-75360822020-10-09 Looking back and looking forward: contributions of electron microscopy to the structural cell biology of gametes and fertilization Ravi, Ravi Teja Leung, Miguel Ricardo Zeev-Ben-Mordehai, Tzviya Open Biol Review Mammalian gametes—the sperm and the egg—represent opposite extremes of cellular organization and scale. Studying the ultrastructure of gametes is crucial to understanding their interactions, and how to manipulate them in order to either encourage or prevent their union. Here, we survey the prominent electron microscopy (EM) techniques, with an emphasis on considerations for applying them to study mammalian gametes. We review how conventional EM has provided significant insight into gamete ultrastructure, but also how the harsh sample preparation methods required preclude understanding at a truly molecular level. We present recent advancements in cryo-electron tomography that provide an opportunity to image cells in a near-native state and at unprecedented levels of detail. New and emerging cellular EM techniques are poised to rekindle exploration of fundamental questions in mammalian reproduction, especially phenomena that involve complex membrane remodelling and protein reorganization. These methods will also allow novel lines of enquiry into problems of practical significance, such as investigating unexplained causes of human infertility and improving assisted reproductive technologies for biodiversity conservation. The Royal Society 2020-09-16 /pmc/articles/PMC7536082/ /pubmed/32931719 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsob.200186 Text en © 2020 The Authors. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Review
Ravi, Ravi Teja
Leung, Miguel Ricardo
Zeev-Ben-Mordehai, Tzviya
Looking back and looking forward: contributions of electron microscopy to the structural cell biology of gametes and fertilization
title Looking back and looking forward: contributions of electron microscopy to the structural cell biology of gametes and fertilization
title_full Looking back and looking forward: contributions of electron microscopy to the structural cell biology of gametes and fertilization
title_fullStr Looking back and looking forward: contributions of electron microscopy to the structural cell biology of gametes and fertilization
title_full_unstemmed Looking back and looking forward: contributions of electron microscopy to the structural cell biology of gametes and fertilization
title_short Looking back and looking forward: contributions of electron microscopy to the structural cell biology of gametes and fertilization
title_sort looking back and looking forward: contributions of electron microscopy to the structural cell biology of gametes and fertilization
topic Review
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7536082/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32931719
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsob.200186
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