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Updated: Jul 4, 2026

Recording Electrical Currents across the Plasma Membrane of Mammalian Sperm Cells
Published on: February 14, 2021
Ca2+ signalling in the control of motility and guidance in mammalian sperm
Stephen John Publicover1, Laura Cecilia Giojalas, Maria Eugenia Teves
1School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK. s.j.publicover@bham.ac.uk
Abstract:
Ca2+ signalling in the sperm plays a key role in the regulation of events preceding fertilisation. Control of motility, including hyperactivation and chemotaxis, is particularly dependent upon [Ca2+]i signalling in the principal piece of the flagellum and the midpiece. Here we briefly review the processes that contribute to regulation of [Ca2+]i in mammalian sperm and then examine two areas: (i) the regulation of hyperactivation by [Ca2+]i and the pivotal roles played by CatSpers (sperm-specific, Ca2+-permeable membrane channels) and intracellular Ca2+ stores in this process and (ii) the elevation of [Ca2+]i and consequent modulation of motility caused by progesterone including the ability of progesterone at micromolar concentrations to cause sperm hyperactivation and/or accumulation and the recent discovery that progesterone, at picomolar concentrations, acts as a chemoattractant for mammalian sperm..
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