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Co-Adaptation of Physical Attributes of the Mammalian Female Reproductive Tract and Sperm to Facilitate Fertilization

The functions of the female reproductive tract not only encompass sperm migration, storage, and fertilization, but also support the transport and development of the fertilized egg through to the birth of offspring. Further, because the tract is open to the external environment, it must also provide...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Tung, Chih-Kuan, Suarez, Susan S.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8225031/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34073739
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/cells10061297
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author Tung, Chih-Kuan
Suarez, Susan S.
author_facet Tung, Chih-Kuan
Suarez, Susan S.
author_sort Tung, Chih-Kuan
collection PubMed
description The functions of the female reproductive tract not only encompass sperm migration, storage, and fertilization, but also support the transport and development of the fertilized egg through to the birth of offspring. Further, because the tract is open to the external environment, it must also provide protection against invasive pathogens. In biophysics, sperm are considered “pusher microswimmers”, because they are propelled by pushing fluid behind them. This type of swimming by motile microorganisms promotes the tendency to swim along walls and upstream in gentle fluid flows. Thus, the architecture of the walls of the female tract, and the gentle flows created by cilia, can guide sperm migration. The viscoelasticity of the fluids in the tract, such as mucus secretions, also promotes the cooperative swimming of sperm that can improve fertilization success; at the same time, the mucus can also impede the invasion of pathogens. This review is focused on how the mammalian female reproductive tract and sperm interact physically to facilitate the movement of sperm to the site of fertilization. Knowledge of female/sperm interactions can not only explain how the female tract can physically guide sperm to the fertilization site, but can also be applied for the improvement of in vitro fertilization devices.
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spelling pubmed-82250312021-06-25 Co-Adaptation of Physical Attributes of the Mammalian Female Reproductive Tract and Sperm to Facilitate Fertilization Tung, Chih-Kuan Suarez, Susan S. Cells Review The functions of the female reproductive tract not only encompass sperm migration, storage, and fertilization, but also support the transport and development of the fertilized egg through to the birth of offspring. Further, because the tract is open to the external environment, it must also provide protection against invasive pathogens. In biophysics, sperm are considered “pusher microswimmers”, because they are propelled by pushing fluid behind them. This type of swimming by motile microorganisms promotes the tendency to swim along walls and upstream in gentle fluid flows. Thus, the architecture of the walls of the female tract, and the gentle flows created by cilia, can guide sperm migration. The viscoelasticity of the fluids in the tract, such as mucus secretions, also promotes the cooperative swimming of sperm that can improve fertilization success; at the same time, the mucus can also impede the invasion of pathogens. This review is focused on how the mammalian female reproductive tract and sperm interact physically to facilitate the movement of sperm to the site of fertilization. Knowledge of female/sperm interactions can not only explain how the female tract can physically guide sperm to the fertilization site, but can also be applied for the improvement of in vitro fertilization devices. MDPI 2021-05-24 /pmc/articles/PMC8225031/ /pubmed/34073739 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/cells10061297 Text en © 2021 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Review
Tung, Chih-Kuan
Suarez, Susan S.
Co-Adaptation of Physical Attributes of the Mammalian Female Reproductive Tract and Sperm to Facilitate Fertilization
title Co-Adaptation of Physical Attributes of the Mammalian Female Reproductive Tract and Sperm to Facilitate Fertilization
title_full Co-Adaptation of Physical Attributes of the Mammalian Female Reproductive Tract and Sperm to Facilitate Fertilization
title_fullStr Co-Adaptation of Physical Attributes of the Mammalian Female Reproductive Tract and Sperm to Facilitate Fertilization
title_full_unstemmed Co-Adaptation of Physical Attributes of the Mammalian Female Reproductive Tract and Sperm to Facilitate Fertilization
title_short Co-Adaptation of Physical Attributes of the Mammalian Female Reproductive Tract and Sperm to Facilitate Fertilization
title_sort co-adaptation of physical attributes of the mammalian female reproductive tract and sperm to facilitate fertilization
topic Review
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8225031/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34073739
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/cells10061297
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