The acrosome of eutherian mammals

The acrosome is not just a bag of enzymes, most of which, if not all, are singly non-essential for sperm-oocyte interaction. The Golgi-derived acrosomal cap reveals some extraordinary development and structure particularities. The acrosome of eutherian spermatozoa basically consists of two parts, the anterior and equatorial segments; the present review is devoted to the former, the initial actor in fertilization. Its occasional fanciful morphological changes during epididymal maturation are analyzed, together with its heterogeneous contents: enzymes, zona binding proteins, structural proteins (matrix) and yet to be chemically characterized crystalloids. The plasma and acrosomal membranes present stabilized ordered domains, whereas glycoprotein-free areas appear during capacitation and before fusion. Exocytosis, induced by the cumulus oophorus and/or the zona pellucida, may generally start proximally and progress anteriorly, resulting in the detachment of a hybrid membrane shroud, whose entity is probably maintained by the bound matrix. Immediately released soluble enzymes must be active during the first interactions of the gametes, whereas other lysins, bound to the matrix or stored as proenzymes, are only progressively released. Zona binding is probably achieved via the shroud and/or the IAM (depending on species). Penetration along an incurved slit through the stratified zona is allowed by the rigid and denuded head tip and flagellar hyperactivity, and assisted by the local proteolytic activity of proteasomes bound to the IAM, the unique essential zona lysin system.